Farmers Enter Paris On Tractors In Protest At Trade Deal

Farmers in their tractor take part in the departure of a convoy in Cancon, south-western France on January 6, 2026, heading to Paris as part of a protest against French government's mandatory culling protocol for cattle herds affected by lumpy skin disease (dermatose nodulaire contagieuse), a viral disease first detected in France in June 2025 that has led to the slaughter of over 3,000 cattle across more than 110 outbreaks nationwide. French government continues its consultations with farmers on January 6, 2026, including those from the powerful FNSEA, hoping to ease the unrest, while on the ground authorities are banning tractor movements—measures that farmers promise to defy.

French farmers rolled into Paris on tractors Thursday morning in a show of dissent against a free trade deal they fear will create unfair competition.

Dozens of tractors arrived before dawn and cruised through Paris, with some reaching the Eiffel Tower and others at the Arc de Triomphe, in a protest organised by the Rural Confederation union.

This aerial photograph taken on January 5, 2026, shows farmers starting a fire as they take part, with their vehicles, in a blockade of the A84 highway entrance in Poilley, western France, as part of a series of actions called in the region by French farmer union Coordination Rural. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

“We said we’d come up to Paris — here we are,” said Ludovic Ducloux, co-head of one of the union’s chapters.

One of them bore the message “No To Mercosur”, referring to a free trade deal with four South American nations.

The EU-Mercosur deal would create the world’s biggest free-trade area and help the 27-nation bloc to export more vehicles, machinery, wines, and spirits to Latin America.

Traffic backs up on the A63 highway behind farmers protesting to defend their profession and denounce the government’s handling of the agricultural crisis, outside Toulouse on January 7, 2026. Using tractors, bales of straw, and manure, farmers erected a dozen roadblocks on the main roads around Toulouse, despite a significant deployment of law enforcement, with the aim of paralysing the city to defend their profession in the midst of a crisis. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)

But farmers fear being undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.

Rural Confederation president Bertrand Venteau told AFP that the farmers intended to peacefully demonstrate at symbolic Parisian sites, even if it meant they ended up in police custody.

Farmers block the traffic on the A63 highway to protest and defend their profession and denounce the government’s handling of the agricultural crisis, outside Toulouse on January 7, 2026. Using tractors, bales of straw, and manure, farmers erected a dozen roadblocks on the main roads around Toulouse, despite a significant deployment of law enforcement, with the aim of paralyzing the city to defend their profession in the midst of a crisis. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)

In another protest near the southwestern city of Bordeaux, about 40 farm vehicles blocked access to a fuel depot, according to the local authorities.

Tractors are parked in front of the Arc de Triomphe during a demonstration of French agricultural union Coordination Rurale (CR) as part of a nationwide day of protests and actions called by several farmers unions to push the French government to block the Mercosur trade deal and protest against its handling of the nodular dermatitis (CND) epidemic, in Paris on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

As well as the trade deal, the farmers are also upset over a government decision to cull cows in response to the spread of nodular dermatitis, a bovine sickness widely known as lumpy skin disease.

A farmer in a tractor takes part in a convoy in Cancon, south-western France on January 6, 2026, heading to Paris as part of a protest against French government’s mandatory culling protocol for cattle herds affected by lumpy skin disease (dermatose nodulaire contagieuse), a viral disease first detected in France in June 2025 that has led to the slaughter of over 3,000 cattle across more than 110 outbreaks nationwide. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

At the end of last month, President Emmanuel Macron met farmers to discuss the trade pact and the cull.

Coordination Rurale 47 President Jose Perez (3rd-L) addresses farmers in Cancon, south-western France on January 6, 2026, ahead of the departure of a convoy heading to Paris as part of a protest against French government’s mandatory culling protocol for cattle herds affected by lumpy skin disease (dermatose nodulaire contagieuse), a viral disease first detected in France in June 2025 that has led to the slaughter of over 3,000 cattle across more than 110 outbreaks nationwide. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

During earlier protests, farmers blocked roads, sprayed manure, and dumped garbage in front of government offices to force the authorities to review their policy.

A tractor which reads as “Support us” leads a convoy around Bergerac after its departure from Cancon, south-western France on January 6, 2026, heading to Paris as part of a protest against French government’s mandatory culling protocol for cattle herds affected by lumpy skin disease (dermatose nodulaire contagieuse), a viral disease first detected in France in June 2025 that has led to the slaughter of over 3,000 cattle across more than 110 outbreaks nationwide. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

Belgian farmers have also staged mass protests against the trade deal, rolling some 1,000 tractors into Brussels in December.

AFP

OpeOluwani Akintayo

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