LatinNews Daily - 20 January 2026

*Argentina has unloaded over 5,000 electric and hybrid cars from the Chinese car manufacturer BYD at the port of Zárate, north of Buenos Aires, according to local press reports, with Economy Minister Luis Caputo hitting back at criticism surrounding the import of the Chinese vehicles in recent days. On 15 January Argentine federal deputy Miguel Ángel Pichetto, the leader of the Peronist splinter group Encuentro Republicano Federal (ERF), questioned Caputo about the imports on social media, criticising the rise of Chinese influence in Argentina. He said: “It is a loss of dollars to finance imports that destroy Argentine labour; no one can compete against an industry subsidised by the Chinese Central Bank”. Pichetto added that US President Donald Trump “is right: China must be stopped.” Caputo answered, highlighting that Argentina mainly produces trucks, most of which are for export, and that the “import of tariff-free hybrid or electric cars was agreed with the automotive industry itself” and that it has a strict quota of “50,000 cars per year”. Caputo stated that, of this quota, only half can come from Chinese brands “which represented less than 5% of vehicle registrations in 2025”. Caputo said this measure helped to ensure the price of cars in Argentina converged with those of neighbouring countries and gave Argentines a greater variety of cars to choose from. Pichetto responded reiterating that BYD’s arrival on the Argentine market undermined the country’s foreign policy. He concluded: “This path could seriously damage the relationship with the United States.”

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