US President Donald Trump has threatened to slap a 25-percent tariff on Mexican goods on February 1, a move that analysts say would deal a heavy blow to Latin America's second-largest economy.

The president's pledge to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico could see the prices of goods soar for U.S. consumers.

Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico would amount to the US “strangling” itself and are likely to force production to shift to south-east Asia, the head of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of car circuitry has warned.