"French farmers rolled some 350 tractors into central Paris on Tuesday, staging a new blockade near the National Assembly to protest the EU's trade deal with South America. Footage shows long lines of tractors clogging streets around the Palais Bourbon as farmers rallied with a heavy police presence. The protest comes after EU member states provisionally approved the signing of the trade deal with the South American bloc, securing the 15-country threshold that represents 65 percent of the EU. France, Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Ireland voted against the proposal, while Belgium abstained. Farmers’ unions reportedly said they are demanding ‘concrete and immediate action’ to protect France’s food security, arguing the agreement would expose them to unfair competition from cheaper imports. France, the EU's largest agricultural producer, has seen months of farmer protests over the Mercosur deal and broader grievances, including rising costs and stagnant incomes. While French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly opposed the deal, it is still expected to be signed in Paraguay on Saturday, backed by a majority of EU countries. Despite the planned signing, the agreement will not take immediate effect. It must still be approved by the European Parliament and ratified by Mercosur member states, a process expected to take several months. Negotiated over 25 years, the deal would phase out most tariffs over 15 years, creating a free-trade area encompassing approximately 780 million people."