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These are the major things a home inspector checks  MSN

These are the major things a home inspector checks  MSN

These are the major things a home inspector checks  MSN

By CLAUDIA LAUER

Data collected from 35 American cities showed a 21% decrease in the homicide rate from 2024 to 2025, translating to about 922 fewer homicides last year, according to a new report from the independent Council on Criminal Justice.

The report, released on Thursday, tracked 13 crimes and recorded drops last year in 11 of those categories including carjackings, shoplifting, aggravated assaults and others. Drug crimes saw a small increase over last year and sexual assaults stayed even between 2024 and 2025, the study found.

Experts said cities and states beyond those surveyed showed similar declines in homicides and other crimes. But they said it’s too early to tell what is prompting the change even as elected officials at all levels — both Democrats and Republicans — have been claiming credit.

Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the council — a nonpartisan think tank for criminal justice policy and research — said that after historic increases in violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, this year brought historic decreases. The study found some cities recorded decades-low numbers, with the overall homicide rate dropping to its lowest in decades

“It’s a dramatic drop to an absolutely astonishing level. As we celebrate it we also need to unpack and try to understand it,” Gelb said. “There’s never one reason crime goes up or down.”

The council collects data from police departments and other law enforcement sources. Some of the report categories included data from as many as 35 cities, while others because of differences in definitions for specific crimes or tracking gaps, include fewer cities in their totals. Many of the property crimes in the report also declined, including a 27% drop in vehicle thefts and 10% drop in shoplifting among the reporting cities.

The council’s report showed a decrease in the homicide rate in 31 of 35 cities including a 40% decrease or more in Denver, Omaha, Nebraska, and Washington. The only city included that reported a double-digit increase was Little Rock, Arkansas, where the rate increased by 16% from 2024.

Gelb said the broad crime rate decreases have made some criminologists question historic understandings of what drives trends in violent crime and how to battle it.

“We want to believe that local factors really matter for crime numbers, that it is fundamentally a neighborhood problem with neighborhood level solutions,” he said. “We’re now seeing that broad, very broad social, cultural and economic forces at the national level can assert huge influence on what happens at the local level.”

Republicans, many of whom called the decrease in violent crime in many cities in 2024 unreliable, have rushed to say that tough-on-crime stances like deploying the National Guard to cities like New Orleans and the nation’s capital, coupled with immigration operation surges, have all played a roll in this year’s drops.

However, cities that saw no surges of either troops or federal agents saw similar historic drops in violent and other crimes, according to the Council’s annual report.

Democratic mayors are also touting their policies as playing roles in the 2025 decreases.

Jens Ludwig, a public policy professor and the Director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, stressed that many factors can contribute to a reduction in crime, whether that’s increased spending on law enforcement or increased spending on education to improve graduation rates.

“The fact that in any individual city, we are seeing crime drop across so many neighborhoods and in so many categories, means it can’t be any particular pet project in a neighborhood enacted by a mayor,” Ludwig said. And because the decrease is happening in multiple cities, “it’s not like any individual mayor is a genius in figuring this out.”

He said while often nobody knows what drives big swings in crime numbers, the decrease could be in part due to the continued normalization after big spikes in crime for several years during the pandemic. A hypothesis that stresses the declines might not last.

“If you look at violent crime rates in the U.S., it is much more volatile year to year than the poverty rate, or the unemployment rate; It is one of those big social indicators that just swings around a lot year to year,” Ludwig said. “Regardless of credit for these declines, I think it’s too soon for anybody on either side of this to declare mission accomplished.”

Q: I purchased a house with my girlfriend, but because she had better credit, we put it in just her name. Besides splitting the down payment, I’ve been helping pay all the bills, including the mortgage, and I even paid to have the roof repaired. Now, she’s saying it’s her house, and I have no say in it. Is there anything I can do? — Michael

A: Buying a house together can be an exciting milestone, but when the legal ownership is in one person’s name, the situation can become complicated if the relationship takes a turn.

Although you’ve contributed to the mortgage, bills, and repairs, the law prioritizes whose name is on the deed when determining ownership. Still, you do have rights in this situation.

The first step is to gather all your documentation. Make a record of every payment you made, especially those for the mortgage, utilities, and repairs. Receipts, bank statements, and any written agreements and communications, such as texts and emails, that show the expectation that the home was for both of you are very helpful.

Of course, you should speak with your girlfriend and try to work something out. If you and your girlfriend are open to discussing the matter but are having difficulty working through it, consider mediation. A neutral third party can help you both reach an agreement without a lengthy court battle.

However, if she’s unwilling to negotiate, legal action may be your only option.

Courts may recognize your financial contributions under the legal concepts of “constructive trust” or “equitable interest.” This means that even if your name is not on the deed, you may be able to claim a share of the property based on your significant financial contributions.

Even if the court doesn’t award you a share of the property, it might order her to reimburse you for those contributions.

Finally, moving forward, it is important to protect yourself in similar situations. If you find yourself contributing to a property again, make sure your name is on the deed or that you have a written agreement outlining your rights.

While it’s easy to assume that love and trust will carry the day, having legal protections in place can save you a lot of heartache down the road. There’s no reason loving, caring partners cannot have written agreements to help avoid misunderstandings.

Board-certified real estate lawyer Gary Singer writes about industry legal matters and the housing market. To ask him a question, email him at gary@garysingerlaw.com, or go to SunSentinel.com/askpro. 

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Once a month, my grandmother hosts a group of friends at her house for a chat and an afternoon tea.

She loves the company and the catch-up, as they are all older and can’t get out much, especially since COVID.

I noticed one guest is very snippety and degrading to the rest of the group, but my grandmother says it isn’t her place to say anything.

I noticed the group declining in numbers and coming up with reasons not to come. My grandmother is angry at her friends for not coming over. I gently hint that if someone is being rude, and the hostess does not ask them to be more mindful, then yes, people will stop coming.

However, she tells me I am wrong and that a hostess doesn’t tell anyone to, in my generation’s words, “stay in their lane.”

How can I get my grandmother to understand this before she loses the friends altogether?

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GENTLE READER: Forgive this grandmother for not understanding what you are asking yours to do.

Miss Manners hopes it is not to commit the unpardonable rudeness of calling out a guest’s rudeness to her face. (The guest’s face, that is. Once the guest is gone, you are free to try to convince your grandmother that this guest is scaring away her other friends.)

You might be more successful if you say that that person is not to everyone’s taste, and perhaps Grandmama can socialize with her one-on-one and convene a more like-minded group for afternoon teas.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Elevators have been in existence, I believe, for more than 150 years, but there does not seem to be a system of accepted manners related to them.

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It is true that we no longer dance around in the elevator so as to allow all the women to get out before the men. There is, however, pandemonium on first floors, when people wishing to board will not wait for occupants to get off. The expressions on their faces indicate they are astonished to find that the machine contains passengers!

I am going to give you my solution and petition you for approval of my actions, which I believe will correct the problem over time.

I am a 6-foot man, and when I stick out my elbows, I pretty much fill the space between the doors. When the doors open, if I note any inclination for those outside to crowd in, I spread my arms and say in a loud voice, “It is not polite to crowd in when people are coming out.”

Do I have your approval for this behavior, and do you think it will prove to be effective?

GENTLE READER: You do not — firstly, because you are going to elbow some unsuspecting person in the face, and secondly, because it is rude to correct another’s manners.

Both problems can be avoided if you instead say, “Excuse us, people coming out, please.” If the announcement is made in a booming voice, it will be surprising enough to render the physical barrier of sticking out your arms unnecessary.

Even so, Miss Manners does not see this solving the problem everywhere and for all time, unless you plan to spend an awful lot of time in elevators.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, gentlereader@missmanners.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

According to the Jan. 18 letter to the editor from Mark Goldstein, Renee Good was not a victim, she was a rioter.

The 37-year-old mother, despite being polite to ICE agents, was shot at least three times — once at close range to her head.

Mr. Goldstein blames “the mainstream media” for portraying Good as the victim. Maybe he should watch news stations that state facts — or just maybe, watch the video with his own eyes.

I don’t need any news outlet — real or fake — to tell me what happened. I saw it.

MAGAs will make up all sorts of stories to fit whatever narrative they want to believe — and what they want others to believe.

Between President Trump’s declining mental faculties and physical ailments, his inept Cabinet is putting every citizen in harm’s way. ICE agents under the cosplaying Kristi Noem didn’t need to terrorize the people of Minnesota, and Good did not use her car as a weapon.

So write to the White House and tell them to start working for the American people, rather than writing letters to the newspaper labeling a deceased innocent woman a rioter.

She was an everywoman, driving home to her family.

Ellen Brown-Menges, Port St. Lucie

A protester is detained by federal agents near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray) ICE was the perpetrator

Letter writer Mark Goldstein of Boca Raton wrote about the “rioters” facing ICE in Minnesota.

But the only violence that was perpetrated on that day was by ICE.

Anyone who saw the videos knows that Renee Good at no time threatened an agent.

Moreover, she told her assailant “I don’t hate you” before he shot and killed her.

I wonder if Goldstein felt the same way about the “peaceful protesters” involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, who assaulted police officers?

Bob Chaban, Boynton Beach

‘The real bad guys’ in Minnesota

Have you watched the video of what the “peaceful” protesters were doing to ICE agents in Minnesota? If you call that peaceful, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

Instead of working with ICE to rid their state of criminals and illegals, the mayor, governor and state attorney general ratcheted up so-called peaceful protests to espouse violence against federal law enforcement.

Who are the real bad guys? The Minnesota politicians resurrecting the George Floyd debacle. Why can’t the Sun Sentinel and Minnesota leaders join hands with law enforcement to bring justice and sanity back to their city and state?

I guess as long as President Trump is in office, the liberal left and Sun Sentinel will be against everything the Trump administration says or does.

Chuck Lehmann, Delray Beach

Don’t shoot at a moving vehicle

As a Vietnam vet and later as an officer with NYPD, I would never fire on a vehicle unless I was being fired upon.

There seemed ample room and time (for the agent) to move away. To Renee Good, I ask: Why drive away? There were important issues to consider (such as the future of her three children).

Consider, too, the behavior of the driver’s spouse, who loudly told Ms. Good, “Drive, baby. drive!” I believe that this prompted her to move forward with her SUV, causing Good’s death.

It’s shameful that an innocent person lost her life due to the behavior of two people who did not make reasonable or correct decisions. This is my belief, and I am saddened.

Louis Cohen, Tamarac

The answer is “nej”

How do you say “NO” in Danish?

Scot McCluskey, Davie

Please submit a letter to the editor by email to letterstotheeditor@sunsentinel.com or fill out the online form below. Letters may be up to 200 words and must be signed with your email address, city of residence and daytime phone number for verification. Letters will be edited for clarity and length. 

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Here are the top stories for Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Get the weather forecast for today here.

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Miss Manners: I want to shut down rude whispers about my husband’s criminal past

Today is Thursday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 2026. There are 343 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 22,1998, Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, California, to being the “Unabomber” responsible for three deaths and 23 injuries in a mail-bombing campaign. In return for the pleas in federal court, he received a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Also on this date:

In 1901, Britain’s Queen Victoria died at age 81 after a reign of more than 63 years; she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII.

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In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.

In 1947, America’s first commercially licensed television station west of the Mississippi, KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, made its official debut.

In 1953, the Arthur Miller drama “The Crucible” opened at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York.

In 1973, former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at his Texas ranch at the age of 64.

Also in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, declared a nationwide constitutional right to abortion. (The court would overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, in the decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.)

In 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-highest single-game point total in NBA history, in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 122-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors. (Wilt Chamberlain set the record with 100 points in 1962 for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win against the New York Knicks.

In 2017, an outbreak of tornadoes in the U.S. Southeast killed at least 16 people in Georgia after claiming four lives in Mississippi.

Today’s birthdays:

• Celebrity chef Graham Kerr (TV: “The Galloping Gourmet”) is 92.
• Singer Steve Perry is 77.
• Film director Jim Jarmusch is 73.
• Actor Linda Blair is 67.
• Actor Diane Lane is 61.
• DJ Jazzy Jeff is 61.
• Celebrity chef Guy Fieri is 58.
• Actor Olivia d’Abo is 57.
• Actor Gabriel Macht is 54.
• Actor Balthazar Getty is 51.
• Rapper Logic is 36.
• Actor Daryl McCormack is 33.
• Actor Sami Gayle is 30.
• R&B singer Ravyn Lenae Washington is 27.
• WNBA point guard Caitlin Clark is 24.

By JUAN A. LOZANO and PATRICK WHITTLE

HOUSTON (AP) — Winter weather brings various hazards that people have to contend with to keep warm and safe.

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These dangers can include carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia and frozen pipes that can burst and make homes unlivable.

Public safety officials and experts say there are multiple ways people can prepare themselves to avoid these winter weather hazards and keep themselves safe.

The hazards are on the radar this week because millions of people in the United States are set to be hit with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from a “significant winter storm” this weekend that will impact the Midwest, the East Coast as well as much of the southern U.S., including Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service.

Staying safe inside your home Multiple vehicles slid off the road in whiteout conditions along Lake Michigan Drive during a winter storm warning in Ottawa County, Mich. on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Officials say that during a winter storm, people should stay indoors. But home heating systems running for hours can increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning as the deadly fumes can be produced by furnaces, stoves and heaters, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Carbon monoxide can also be created when people use portable generators or run cars in their garages to stay warm or charge their phones.

Dr. Alex Harding, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said that because carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, people won’t necessarily be aware of it.

“The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be really insidious. They can sneak up on patients and can range from just developing a headache or maybe a little bit of nausea to all the way to losing consciousness and seizures,” he said.

Dealing with hypothermia Traffic passes piled-up snow in Lowville, N.Y., Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

The cold weather hitting the U.S. this weekend has the ability to be dangerous or deadly because of unsafe exposure to elements.

The cold temperatures could sneak up on people in parts of the country, including Texas, that have largely experienced a mild winter so far.

“Really cold temperatures and winds can make temperatures feel a lot colder, and the result of that could be cold air that could eventually lead to frostbite at a much faster rate or hypothermia at a much faster rate than normal,” said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.

Prolonged exposure to frigid temperatures can put people at risk to hypothermia, a condition that happens when one’s body loses heat faster than it can produce it.

“Hypothermia is definitely one of the bigger concerns, especially if we do have any kind of certainty in like power grids or electricity failing,” Harding said.

The danger of hypothermia is greater for someone who is outside, exposed to wind gusts and isn’t wearing appropriate clothing or has clothing that gets wet.

“If they have a safe place that’s warm, where they can hunker down, where they have water and food and all those kind of necessities … then that’s going to limit their exposure to those risks,” Harding said.

But vulnerable populations like people with disabilities or homeless individuals can have problems finding a warm and safe place to stay.

Protecting your home’s pipes People walk their dogs on an ice covered beach at the Lake Michigan shore, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Frozen pipes in a home during severe winter weather is a particular problem in parts of the South because such equipment is often located outside structures. But other parts of the country also have to deal with this problem.

Jose Parra, a master plumber with Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical in Houston, advises people to insulate any pipes that are exposed to the outside, turn off and drain sprinkler systems and let faucets inside a home drip during freezing temperatures so water can run through the pipes and protect them.

“A lot of what we’re fixing, I would say 80% to 90%, could have been prevented with just a little bit of work ahead of time,” Parra said.

Electric vehicle troubles A Tesla Cyber truck is driven along North Scenic Drive through Muskegon State Park during a winter storm warning in Muskegon County, Mich. on Saturday, January 17, 2026. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Experts acknowledge that cold weather can be hard for electric vehicles. But they say with some planning and a little adjustment, owners should be able to travel pretty much as normal.

Inside EV batteries, lithium ions flow through a liquid electrolyte, producing electricity. But they travel more slowly through the electrolyte when it gets cold and don’t release as much energy. That cuts into the range and can deplete a battery faster.

In the short run, automakers are likely to come up with better ways to protect battery life and warm them for charging, Neil Dasgupta, associate professor of mechanical and materials science engineering at the University of Michigan, told The Associated Press. And there are new battery chemistries in development that are more resilient in cold weather.

Associated Press writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report.

By JAIMIE DING

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A conservative group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Los Angeles schools policy meant to address the harms of segregation, alleging that it discriminates against white students.

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The 1776 Project Foundation, created by the 1776 Project PAC, targeted in its lawsuit a Los Angeles Unified School District policy that provides smaller class sizes and other benefits to schools with predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian or other non-white students. It dates back to 1970 and 1976 court orders that required the district to desegregate its schools.

The group said the policy amounts to racial discrimination and violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

The lawsuit calls for a permanent injunction to prevent the school district from using race preferences in “operating, funding, advertising, or admitting students into school programs.”

A district spokesperson said they were unable to comment on the specifics of pending litigation.

“Los Angeles Unified remains firmly committed to ensuring all students have meaningful access to services and enriching educational opportunities,” the district said in a statement.

More than 600 schools in the district are classified as predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian or other non-white, while less than 100 are not, the lawsuit said.

Students that attend a school under this designation receive extra points when applying to magnet schools, and they are required to have at least two parent-teacher conferences per year, according to the district’s Student Integration Services website. These schools are also required to have student-teacher ratios of 25 to 1 or less, compared to other schools that are allowed to have classroom ratios of as high as 34 to 1, according to the lawsuit.

The 1776 Project Foundation’s mission is to “create and disseminate policies that will promote academic achievement and revitalize our educational system for families and students across the nation,” according to its website. It does so primarily by supporting local school board candidates, pushing back against “progressive pedagogy” and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, its website said. The related 1776 Project PAC has financially backed those candidates.

The group’s members include a parent whose children are enrolled in a Los Angeles school that is not classified as predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian or other non-white, according to the lawsuit. Because of the district’s policy, those children were denied certain benefits such as admission to a magnet program, the lawsuit alleges.

The filing comes as Trump administration officials have pushed for the lifting of Civil Rights Movement-era school desegregation court orders, calling them obsolete and unnecessary.

Civil rights groups say the orders are important to keep as tools to address the legacy of forced segregation — including disparities in student discipline, academic programs and teacher hiring — as well as segregation that is still actively happening.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and RYAN J. FOLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down and he stopped breathing, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide.

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Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 following an altercation with guards. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the 55-year-old father of four was attempting suicide and the staff at Camp East Montana tried to save him.

But a witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was handcuffed as at least five guards held him down and one put an arm around his neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.

The autopsy report by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office found Lunas Campos’ body showed signs of a struggle, including abrasions on his chest and knees. He also had hemorrhages on his neck. The deputy medical examiner, Dr. Adam Gonzalez. determined the cause of death was asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.

The report said witnesses saw Lunas Campos “become unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement.” It did not elaborate on what happened during the struggle but cited evidence of injuries to his neck, head and torso associated with physical restraint. The report also noted the presence of petechial hemorrhages — tiny blood spots from burst capillaries that can be associated with intense strain or injury — in the eyelids and skin of the neck.

Dr. Victor Weedn, a forensic pathologist who reviewed the autopsy report for AP, said the presence of petechiae in the eyes “tend to support” the conclusion that asphyxia caused the death. Those injuries suggest pressure on the body and are often associated with such deaths, he said.

He said the contusions on Lunas Campos’ body may reflect physical restraint and the neck injuries were consistent with a hand or knee on the neck.

The autopsy also found the presence of prescription antidepressant and antihistamine medications, adding that Lunas Campos had a history of bipolar disorder and anxiety. It made no mention of him attempting suicide.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on the autopsy report.

ICE’s initial account of the death, which included no mention of an altercation with guards, said Lunas Campos had become disruptive and staff moved him to a segregated area.

“While in segregation, staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance,” the agency said in its Jan. 9 statement. “Medical staff responded, initiated lifesaving measures, and requested emergency medical services.”

Lunas Campos was pronounced dead after paramedics arrived.

Last Thursday, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Lunas Campos had attempted suicide and guards tried to help him.

“Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,” she said. “During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness.”

Camp Montana East is a sprawling tent facility in the desert on the grounds of Fort Bliss, an Army base. The AP reported in August that the $1.2 billion facility, expected to become the largest detention facility in the U.S., was being built and operated by a private contractor headquartered in a single-family home in Richmond, Virginia. The company, Acquisition Logistics LLC, had no prior experience running a corrections facility.

It was not immediately clear whether the guards present when Lunas Campos died were government employees or those of the private contractor.

Lunas Campos was among the first detainees sent to Camp Montana East, arriving in September after ICE arrested him in Rochester, New York, where he lived for more than two decades. He was legally admitted to the U.S. in 1996, part of a wave of Cuban immigrants seeking to reach Florida by boat.

ICE said he was picked up in July as part of a planned immigration enforcement operation due to criminal convictions that made him eligible for removal.

New York court records show Lunas Campos was convicted in 2003 of sexual contact with a person under 11, a felony for which he was sentenced to one year in jail and placed on the state’s sex offender registry.

Foley reported from Iowa City.

By ISABEL DEBRE and VICTOR CAIVANO

ZÁRATE, Argentina (AP) — The vast field of over 5,800 electric and hybrid vehicles gleamed on the cargo deck of the BYD Changzhou, an Chinese container vessel unloading Wednesday at a river port in eastern Argentina.

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In other places, such a scene would not be noteworthy. Chinese automaker BYD has sped up its exports and undercut rivals the world over, alarming Washington, upsetting Western and Japanese auto giants, and unnerving local industries across Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

But the sight of so many new Chinese EVs gliding onto a muddy river bank in Buenos Aires province was unprecedented for Argentina.

“This milestone reflects a long-term vision in Argentina — to invest, to steadily expand our dealer network across the entire national territory,” said Stephen Deng, the country manager for BYD in Argentina.

The giant BYD logo gracing the ship’s hull and each car window sent shockwaves through this crisis-stricken economy run for decades by the left-wing populist movement of Peronism that protected local industry with stiff tariffs and import restrictions.

“For decades people in Argentina had this vision that everything here must be manufactured here,” said Claudio Damiano, a professor in the Institute of Transportation at Argentina’s National University of San Martin. “The boat has a symbolic value as the first step for BYD. Everyone’s wondering how far it will go.”

The image of duty-free Chinese cars discharging in Argentina also sent a message to Brussels, where on Wednesday European Union lawmakers voted to delay ratification of a landmark free trade deal with the Mercosur group of South American countries, including Argentina, which promises to tear down trade barriers for European EV imports.

“The Europeans, there’s just no possibility of competing with the Chinese,” Damiano said.

Chinese cars show Argentina’s open economy

Under Peronists who disdained global trade as a destructive force, Argentina became one of the region’s most closed economies.

Sky-high taxes on imports and a chronically depreciating currency long constrained consumer choice, compelling well-heeled Argentines to smuggle iPhones and Zara hauls into the country when returning from vacations abroad.

For the last two years, radical libertarian President Javier Milei has done the exact opposite of his closest ally, U.S. President Donald Trump.

He has flung open Argentina’s doors to imports, slashed trade barriers, unwound customs red tape and shored up the local currency to make foreign goods more affordable.

Last year Argentina logged a record 30% increase in imports compared to the year before — much of it in the form of $3 milk frothers and $10 dresses piling up on Argentines’ doorsteps from Asian online retailers such as Temu and Shein.

Now Chinese automakers — once choked by 35% levies on imports — are seizing on a new measure to allow 50,000 electric and hybrid cars into the country this year tariff-free. The first shipment arrived Monday at Zárate Port after a 23-day voyage from Singapore.

• Pablo Naya, the owner of Sero Electric, poses next to one of the company’s electric microcars at its factory in Castelar, Argentina, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
• BYD hybrid and electric vehicles shipped from China are parked at Terminal Zarate in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
• Hybrid and electric vehicles shipped from China are unloaded from the BYD Changzhou car carrier docked at Terminal Zarate, in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
• Ignacio Palacios works on a Sero Electric microcar at its factory in Castelar, Argentina, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Show Caption1 of 4Pablo Naya, the owner of Sero Electric, poses next to one of the company’s electric microcars at its factory in Castelar, Argentina, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) Expand

Telling business and political leaders Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos that that his drastic deregulation measures “allow us to have a more dynamically efficient economy,” Milei declared: “This is MAGA, ‘Make Argentina Great Again.

Trump and Milei: friends despite differences

Milei and Trump share a contempt for perceived “wokeness,” an impatience with multilateral institutions like the United Nations, a denial of climate change, a passion for supporting Israel and a zeal for dismantling the administrative state.

The ideological bond has paid dividends for Milei: Argentina is a rare place in the region where Trump has wielded the might of the U.S. to help an ally rather than coerce with military threats, as he has in Colombia and Mexico. Last year he offered Milei a $20 billion credit swap last year to boost his chances in a crucial midterm election.

Yet at Davos the leaders’ stark differences were on stark display. Milei delivered his anti-interventionist, libertarian definition of MAGA right after Trump laid out his vision for making America great: demanding control of Greenland and threatening allies with tariffs and other consequences if they don’t fall in line.

China has perhaps benefited most from Milei’s free-market drive. Chinese imports to Argentina surged over 57% last year compared to the year before — compared to a 9.6% spike in shipments from the U.S. Chinese investment has poured into Argentina’s energy and mining sectors.

China ‘has won the race’ in Argentina

BYD and similar Chinese brands have taken the streets of Latin America by storm, from Mexico City to Rio de Janeiro — inviting controversy and backlash.

Now they’re best positioned to reap the rewards of Milei’s zero-tariff quota for EVs, which applies only to cars under $16,000.

“Chinese manufacturers have the technology and the ability to meet the price limits set by the government,” said Andrés Civetta, an economist specializing in the auto sector at the Argentine consulting firm Abeceb. “China has won the race.”

Some major Western car manufacturers in Argentina have raised concerns. Opposition lawmakers warn of unfair competition.

But Argentina is still far behind its neighbors in developing its EV industry, said Pablo Naya, the creator of Sero Electric, Argentina’s only domestic electric car manufacturer.

The country’s aging power grid is nowhere near ready for a wave of electric cars to strain it en masse, he said. And if something goes wrong with a Chinese EV on the road, there are currently no dealers’ service centers able to undertake internal repairs.

“Honestly, we’re not worried,” he said.

But if or when Argentine infrastructure and consumer aspirations eventually catch up to China, it will be a different story.

“Then that would get complicated for us,” he said from the Sero Electric factory in the Buenos Aires suburb of Castelar. “We’d have a problem.”

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