US President Donald Trump has announced tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico, demanding the country curb illegal immigration into the US.
In a tweet, Mr Trump said that from 10 June a 5% tariff would be imposed and would slowly rise “until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied”.
Jesus Seade, Mexico’s top diplomat for North America, said the proposed tariffs would be “disastrous”.
Mr Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border in February.
He said it was necessary in order to tackle what he claims is a crisis at the US southern border.
Border agents say they are overwhelmed, but critics say they are mishandling and mistreating migrants.
The US president has long accused Mexico of not doing enough to stem the flow of people, and this is his latest attempt to put pressure on the neighbouring state.
Mr Seade said Mexico “must respond vigorously” if the tariffs – which are a tax on a product made abroad – were brought in.
However, Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded saying he did not want “confrontation”.
“I propose deepening our dialogue, to look for other alternatives to the migration problem,” he wrote in a letter on Thursday.
