Mexico’s president says he wants to avoid a clash with Trump

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that he would defend the interests of Mexicans but wanted to avoid a clash with Washington, after the Trump administration announced it would slap punitive tariffs on its southern neighbor unless it did more to stop irregular migration.

“There is no need for confrontation,” the leftist president said at his daily morning news conference.

Mexico is heavily dependent on trade and this year has surged to become the No. 1 trading partner of the United States, eclipsing Canada and China. The Mexican peso slid nearly 3 percent overnight on the news, to almost 20 pesos to the dollar.

López Obrador said he has received broad support from the Mexican public after Trump announced late Thursday that he would impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods coming from Mexico unless it stopped the migration flow.

“I want to insist that we will not fall into any provocation; we are going to act prudently,” said the president. “With respect to U.S. authorities, and President Donald Trump, we think that all these conflicts in the bilateral relationship must be confronted and resolved with dialogue.”

López Obrador dispatched his foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, to Washington on Friday for urgent talks.

The White House plans to launch the penalties on June 10 and increase them if Central American and other migrants continue to cross Mexico to the United States.

López Obrador has maintained a cordial relationship with Trump despite significant policy differences on immigration and other issues.