Senate negotiators plan to change a proposed import tariff in the House-passed climate change bill, a provision criticized last week by President Obama as a potential blow to free trade, Sen. John Kerry said Wednesday.

The tariff in the House cap-and-trade bill, passed nearly two weeks ago, would start in 2020 and target energy-intensive goods from certain countries that do not make carbon reduction commitments of their own, if the administration found that other U.S. efforts to minimize the impact of the new program on domestic firms had not worked.

The provision reflects lawmakers’ fears that Chinese firms could overwhelm U.S. companies if China fails to undertake carbon reduction plans of its own. Under the House language, insisted upon by Ways and Means Committee Democrats, the president could issue a tariff waiver if the administration thought it was in the national interest, but for the waiver to take effect, Congress would have to pass a joint resolution affirming it within 90 days.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday on the trade ramifications of climate change legislation, Kerry, D-Mass., a senior committee member panel, said that he is talking with Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer , D-Calif., and they “are going to try and change that provision.”

Kerry said that the president “should have some discretion,” to stay more in line with World Trade Organization rules.