U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue met Monday morning with Mexico's Agriculture Secretary Víctor Manuel Villalobos to discuss the ongoing 5% tariff threat made by President Donald Trump on May 30.

“We had a good discussion about some of the frustrations of the border issue and hopefully some of the things that Mexico can contribute in making things better,” Perdue said following the meeting regarding ways Mexico can help slow or limit the flow of Central American immigrants into the U.S. at the southern border.

“Nobody has a magic wand to wave and stop all of this, but I think Mexico can play an important part in their efforts to work with us and collaborate with us internally and at their southern borders to help the situation,” Perdue added.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan defended the use of tariffs to deter illegal immigration on Sunday.

"I think what the President said, what the White House has made clear, is we need a vast reduction in the numbers crossing,” McAleenan. He listed various benchmarks where the U.S. and Mexico can work together to decrease the flow of illegal immigration, including "going after" those transporting migrants and profiting as well as "partnering and coordinating on asylum and how we treat people that actually need protections coming from Central America."

Related:Trump’s Mexico tariff threat could blow up USMCA progress

He added that "these crossings into Mexico are happening on a 150-mile stretch of their southern border. This is a controllable area. We need them to put their authorities down there and interdict these folks before they make this route all the way to the U.S."

A White House statement following Trump’s Thursday threat by tweet explained that, starting on June 10, 2019, the U.S. will impose a 5% tariff on all goods imported from Mexico.

“If the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico, to be determined in our sole discretion and judgment, the tariffs will be removed,” the White House statement said. “If the crisis persists, however, the tariffs will be raised to 10% on July 1, 2019. Similarly, if Mexico still has not taken action to dramatically reduce or eliminate the number of illegal aliens crossing its territory into the United States, tariffs will be increased to 15% on Aug. 1, 2019; to 20% on Sept. 1, 2019, and to 25% on Oct. 1, 2019. Tariffs will permanently remain at the 25% level unless and until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory."

Also on Sunday, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Trump is very serious about his threat to impose a 5% tariff on all goods from Mexico due to his concerns of illegal immigration. "He is absolutely, deadly serious," Mulvaney said. "I fully expect these tariffs to go on to at least the 5% level on June 10."

Agricultural groups were united in their call for a more reasoned solution to the immigrant situation and called for certainty for U.S. agricultural producers and continued progress on passing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The National Grain & Feed Assn. and the North American Export Grain Assn. said in a joint statement, “We strongly urge U.S. and Mexican officials to immediately begin good-faith discussions to urgently arrive at mutually agreeable steps to restore desperately needed confidence and certainty to agriculture and other industries and job creators that depend upon vibrant trade and efficient supply chains that benefit North American and global consumers.”

National Corn Growers Assn. president Lynn Chrisp noted, “The recent deal to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada was an important breakthrough for USMCA, but new tariffs threaten to reverse that progress. Amid a perfect storm of challenges in farm country, we cannot afford the uncertainty this action would bring.”

Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) said he does not support the tariff proposal to address the immigration issues. Ranking member on the committee Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) also voiced opposition to the proposal.

“Donald Trump has no credibility when it comes to America's national security and no coherent plan when it comes to trade. A few weeks after the Trump Administration suggested that foreign cars represent a national security threat, it claims that asylum seekers from Latin America are, too, and that making Americans pay higher tariffs will somehow get what he wants,” Wyden said. “The tariffs he's proposing are paid by American consumers, and the retaliation we should expect from Mexico will harm American workers.”