WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - Three Senate Democrats

from auto manufacturing states on Thursday urged the Biden

administration to hike import tariffs on Chinese electric

vehicles to address national security risks, the latest push by

lawmakers to protect the U.S. auto sector.

"Allowing heavily subsidized Chinese vehicles to enter the

U.S. marketplace would endanger American automotive

manufacturing," said the previously unreported letter, seen by

Reuters, from Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of

Michigan and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. "Artificially low-priced

Chinese EVs flooding the U.S. would cost thousands of American

jobs and endanger the survival of the U.S. automotive industry

as a whole."

Auto industry officials told Reuters earlier Biden is

considering hiking tariffs on Chinese EVs and the letter is the

latest in growing pressure on the White House to take further

steps to prevent Chinese vehicle imports.

The letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S.

Trade Representative Katherine Tai urged "additional action this

year to combat the economic and national security threat

presented by China's efforts to infiltrate our U.S. market."

USTR and Commerce did not immediately comment.

In recent days, two Republican senators have proposed

legislation seeking to hike tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles,

though relatively few Chinese vehicles are imported into the

United States.

"China's policies could flood our market with its

vehicles, posing risks to our national security," President Joe

Biden said in a statement last week. "I'm not going to let that

happen on my watch."

The Chinese embassy in Washington has rejected calls to hike

tariffs saying China's automobile exports "reflect the

high-quality development and strong innovation of China's

manufacturing industry."

Last week, the Commerce Department said it was opening

an investigation into whether Chinese vehicle imports pose

national security risks and could impose restrictions due to

concerns about "connected" car technology. The White House has

not detailed any specific national security incidents to date

involving Chinese vehicles but says they could be "exploited in

ways that threaten national security."

The senators urged Commerce to "focus its investigation

on the national security threat posed by the potential import of

highly connected Chinese vehicles and high-risk China-controlled

connected and autonomous technologies."

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in November urged U.S.

Trade Representative Tai to boost tariffs on Chinese vehicles.

Tai said in January the Biden administration is closely

reviewing "China's non-market policies and practices in its

automotive industry" and reviewing current tariff levels.