Leading business groups lashed out yesterday against new provisions in the House climate bill that would tax imports from China and other countries that fail to slash emissions as much as the United States.

But key House members indicated the hotly disputed language from the Ways and Means Committee is there to stay.

In a letter to lawmakers, the National Foreign Trade Council and U.S. Council for International Business warned that Congress is at risk of inviting international trade sanctions, creating friction with U.S. allies and upending the likelihood of achieving a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"We believe that the president should have wide discretion to decide whether or not to impose or continue trade-related climate measures, and that Congress should tie the continued reliance on emission rebates and any imposition of border measures to a finding of significant carbon leakage," the group presidents wrote.

Doing so, they argued, "would bolster the credibility of the claim that these measures are aimed at reducing carbon leakage rather than protecting U.S. firms and would be less likely to be seen as disguised protectionism internationally."

The original version of H.R. 2454 that passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month allowed the White House to impose a so-called carbon tariff on countries that do not live up to international agreements to reduce emissions. But that bill left the decision largely to the discretion of the president.

New language that the Ways and Means Committee presented this week ratchets up the likelihood that the United States will target nations with such a tax. It essentially hardwires in a tariff and requires a joint resolution from Congress to end it. The measure is aimed at protecting energy-intensive industries like steel in the hopes of blocking U.S. companies from shutting down and moving overseas to less regulated or unregulated nations under a cap-and-trade regime (ClimateWire, June 24).

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) said congressional involvement is key for lawmakers and argued that "whether the president is a Democrat or a Republican, often times they're reluctant to impose border tariffs on these kinds of issues."

Doyle said some changes are under way -- including the creation of a sectoral tariff rather than a blanket one. But he said the language is "critical to us."

As for the Obama administration's reaction, he said, "I'm sure the White House isn't really thrilled there, but it's a provision we told them is very necessary and that we feel is very important to us. We're having a back and forth with them on this, but I feel confident that it's going to stay."

Senior reporter Darren Samuelsohn contributed.