MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico has not yet reached an agreement with United States (US) President Donald Trump to avoid tariffs on its automobile and steel exports but talks continue, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.

Mexico’s economy, the second-largest in Latin America, is considered one of the most vulnerable to Trump’s global trade war because the United States buys around 80 per cent of its exports.

“No agreement has been reached yet, but there is communication,” Sheinbaum, who spoke with Trump by telephone last Wednesday, said at her morning news conference.

Sheinbaum last week described her conversation with Trump as “very productive” and said that the two leaders would continue talking to reach agreements.

Trump this month left Mexico off the list of nations facing his “reciprocal tariffs”, but its carmakers as well as steel and aluminium exporters still face duties.

Sheinbaum said that Mexico had proposed zero tariffs on steel and aluminium exports that meet the requirements of its free trade agreement with the United States and Canada.

She said her government had made the case that “the United States exports more steel and aluminium to Mexico than Mexico exports to the United States”.

Sheinbaum declined to give details about her proposal for the key automotive sector, which has been hit by Trump’s decision to slap 25 per cent levies on foreign-made imported vehicles.