US President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto have held an hour-long phone conversation, according to a White House official.
The official made the statement following a report by the Associated Press, citing unnamed sources, on the phone call but without saying what the two men talked about.
It comes amid a growing crisis over border security and trade, after Mr Peña Nieto scrapped a planned trip to Washington to meet Mr Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that Mexico pay for a wall on the US border to halt illegal immigration.
Earlier, Mr Trump said in a tweet that Mexico "has taken advantage of the US for long enough."
Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough. Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2017
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said his country is willing to talk with the United States in order to maintain good relations, but paying for President Donald Trump's border wall "is not negotiable".
"There are things that are not negotiable, things that cannot and will not be negotiated. The fact that it is being said that Mexico should pay for the wall is something that is simply not negotiable," Mr Videgaray said during a press conference at the Mexican embassy in Washington.
Holding true to his campaign promise, Mr Trump on Wednesday ordered US officials to begin to design and construct a wall along the 3,200km US-Mexico border.
The White House has since then floated the idea of a 20% tax on Mexican imports to cover the cost of the wall, but later backtracked and called it just one idea among many.
Such a tax, Mr Videgaray said, would only harm Americans.
"Here in the United States avocados, washing machines, televisions, many things that North American families like to buy and that are expensive, would cost more," he said.
"It would be the American consumer who would be paying," the Mexican foreign minister added.
The top diplomat was at the White House yesterday to help pave the way for a visit by Mr Peña Nieto when his team received word of a tweet from Mr Trump, suggesting that if Mexico were not willing to build the wall it should cancel the trip.
Mr Peña Nieto tweeted later that he had informed the White House that he would "not attend the working meeting" next week.
"We recognise that it is the beginning of a new relationship with President Trump and his government. We recognise that, as President Peña Nieto has said, we are ready to negotiate. We have clear priorities and objectives," Mr Videgaray said.
