That comes despite U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday sending a letter to congressional leaders to kick start the process of approving updates to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump first announced the Mexico tariffs on Twitter.

Mexico was the second-largest importer of goods into the United States in 2018, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The United States imported $346.5 billion of goods from Mexico in 2018, an increase of 10.3% over the year prior, according to the USTR. The 2018 total accounted for 13.6% of overall U.S. imports that year.

Linked to 'illegal migration crisis'

"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. If the crisis persists, however, the Tariffs will be raised to 10 percent on July 1, 2019," the White House said.