By Bob Davis 

WASHINGTON -- Forty-five trade associations, representing a wide swath of the U.S. economy, are petitioning the Trump administration to halt plans to levy tariffs on China and to work instead with other nations to press Beijing to end restrictions on foreign firms.

Imposing heavy tariffs, said a letter by the trade groups, "would trigger a chain reaction of negative consequences for the U.S. economy, provoking retaliation; stifling U.S. agriculture, goods, and services exports; and raising costs for businesses and consumers."

The White House is putting together a package of measures, including tariffs on at least an annual $30 billion of Chinese imports, to pressure Beijing to end requirements that U.S. companies transfer technology to Chinese firms, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

A decision may come this week or the next. While it may be too late for the group to fend off tariffs, it hopes at least to slow down the process. The group wants U.S. industries affected by any tariffs to be able review proposed levies and make comments before they go into effect.

"We request that the administration allow industry experts the opportunity to comment on these issues, including the economic impact of any potential actions," said the letter, which is dated Monday.

The group includes trade associations covering the technology, retail, agricultural and consumer-goods industries. It includes household names such as Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google, IBM, Nike Inc. and Walmart Inc.

"We focused on tariffs because we know they don't work," said Dean Garfield, the chief executive of the Information Technology Industry Council, which organized the letter.

The group's preferred way of dealing with Beijing is to "work with like-minded partners to address common concerns with China's trade and investment policies," the letter said. "Imposition of unilateral tariffs by the administration would only serve to split the United States from its allies."

Mr. Garfield said international pressure sometimes prompts China to roll back actions that discriminate against foreigners. U.S. technology firms, from Intel Corp. to Apple, depend on China operations for a big chunk of their profits earned by working in China and selling there.

The administration has said that change in China happens too slowly, resulting in a $375 billion U.S. merchandise trade deficit with China. Many in U.S. industry agree with the administration that Beijing uses its enormous market to force companies to improperly transfer technology and submit to other discriminatory practices. But they want the administration to take a less confrontational approach.

The administration is also considering bringing a case before the World Trade Organization alleging that China is violating trade rules, which would be a way to try to build a coalition of nations. But it is unclear whether that will proceed; a case would be overshadowed by any move to levy tariffs before getting WTO approval.

Countries bring cases to the WTO in Geneva for adjudication. If a country wins a claim, it is authorized to assess tariffs, unless the losing nation changes its offending practices.

Such actions take years to complete, and the Trump administration is looking for faster action.

The move against China comes on the heels of a White House decision to assess tariffs of 25% on steel products and 10% on aluminum, citing national-security concerns. Industry groups also had urged the administration to take a multilateral approach in that case and to form a coalition to press China to cut its excess metals capacity, which is widely seen as the source of a global glut. Instead, the U.S. chose tariffs.

Mr. Garfield, though, said he saw hopeful signs in the way the administration handled the metal cases. Initially, the administration said it would apply tariffs across the board to all nations. Now it has carved out exceptions for Mexico and Canada and is considering them for other nations. It also has set up a formal process for companies to win exclusions for their products.

The group wants the administration to set up a similar process before assessing any tariffs, as a way to guard against potential economic harm. Tariffs on information and communications technology products would lower overall U.S. productivity growth, said a report on Friday by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a research group in Washington, D.C., that takes a hard line on China.

"Let's create a process where the administration shares their thinking and allows people to comment," Mr. Garfield said.

Write to Bob Davis at bob.davis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 18, 2018 18:49 ET (22:49 GMT)