Lobbyists for major U.S. companies, including

Honeywell International Inc.,

HON -2.12%

General Electric Co.

GE -1.17%

and

Boeing Corp.

BA 0.96%

, are hoping to persuade centrist Democratic senators such as

Kyrsten Sinema

of Arizona and

Joe Manchin

of West Virginia that the proposed global minimum tax would raise the cost of doing business as a U.S.-based company if it is implemented too soon.

The rate increase would codify a deal struck by Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen

and nearly 140 other nations to set a floor under corporate rates around the world. It is designed to address corporate maneuvers that pack profits into low-tax jurisdictions.

Lobbyists for the companies have determined that they are unlikely to persuade Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress to scrap the new international taxes altogether. So they have shifted to lobbying Congress to delay the effective date of the new tax regime until other countries adopt the minimum tax, too.

“If Congress enacts a harsher minimum-tax regime before other countries enact any minimum-tax regime at all, it would put U.S. companies and their workers at a significant competitive disadvantage,” said

Rohit Kumar,

a former aide to Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell

(R., Ky.) who is now a co-leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s national tax office and helping lead the effort to delay the changes.

Setting U.S. taxes above other nations would also “reintroduce a tax incentive for U.S. companies and their assets to look for a new home overseas,” running counter to the administration’s goals, Mr. Kumar added.

Proponents of the global minimum tax say that delaying its implementation would signal to other countries that the U.S. was unlikely to follow through on the international deal, and give more time for companies to kill the higher minimum rate in a future Congress.

The Biden administration is pushing back on the lobbying, saying the new minimum tax would narrow the difference in tax rates between the U.S. and other countries, making it less likely that American companies would try to recognize profits abroad to avoid U.S. taxes.

“The Treasury Department firmly believes that [this] should happen swiftly to ensure that companies are no longer incentivized to move profits and jobs overseas,” said

Alexandra LaManna,

a department spokeswoman.

While House lawmakers were considering the Build Back Better package earlier this year, business lobbyists persuaded Democrats to delay implementation of the overseas earnings tax until Jan. 1, 2023. The administration had proposed that it take effect next year.

After the House narrowly approved the legislation last month, the lobbyists shifted their attention to the Senate, where they are seeking to delay the expansion of the overseas earnings tax until at least 2024.

“The longer we have, it gives Treasury time to draft regulations so companies know what they are doing,” said

Cathy Schultz,

a tax-policy official at the Business Roundtable, referring to regulations spelling out the details of the new regime.

The lobbying effort is being led by a loose association of companies known as Promote America’s Competitive Economy, or PACE, which is led partly by the Business Roundtable, a coalition of chief executives of some of the biggest U.S. companies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are also involved.

Strategy calls organized by the PACE coalition routinely draw about 100 lobbyists and lawyers who discuss plans to pressure various senators to take up their cause. The companies on Friday sent a letter to senators laying out their case for a delay.

Other industry groups are waging separate lobbying fights to persuade senators to strip out provisions they oppose.

A coalition of companies including JPMorgan Chase & Co.,

Citigroup Inc.

C -2.51%

and

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,

GS -3.92%

among others, are pressing senators to block a little-noticed provision in the House-approved version of the bill that would give the Federal Trade Commission broad new authority to fine companies for unfair and deceptive business practices.

Lobbyists for the generic-drug industry are trying to change a provision inserted into the bill by Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders that is designed to limit the cost of brand-name drugs. The generic firms say the current measure would unintentionally harm low-cost alternatives.

Oil-and-gas companies are trying to block new taxes on natural gas that they argue would harm domestic energy producers.

Industry lobbyists have already picked off elements of the Build Back Better plan as it wended its way through the House. To clear the Senate, the legislation will likely need support from all 50 Democrats and both independents in the chamber, as all 50 Republicans oppose it.

Private-equity industry lobbyists successfully persuaded Ms. Sinema to block a $14 billion tax increase on what is known as carried interest income, which they said would harm businesses in her state. Ms. Sinema’s opposition led the proposal to be removed from the House bill.

House drafters also scaled back a proposal to double the federal tax on cigarettes and apply the rate to vaping and other tobacco products. After pressure from tobacco companies and convenience stores, the proposed tax increase was cut from $100 billion to $9 billion. Earlier this month, vaping lobbyists persuaded Democratic senators to kill that tax altogether.

Amid fierce lobbying from businesses, senators altered a proposed 15% minimum tax on financial-statement income to exclude gains from defined-benefit pension plans. They also dialed back proposed new limits on interest deductions taken by multinational corporations.

Mr. Biden’s legislation faces hurdles beyond than the corporate lobbying efforts. Mr. Manchin, a key Democratic vote, hasn’t agreed to vote for the legislation and says his party is using budget gimmicks to disguise the bill’s full cost.

Mr. Manchin’s resistance makes it likely that the Senate will have to delay a vote on the measure until after the holidays, which would give industry lobbyists more time to rally opposition to elements of the legislation.

—Richard Rubin contributed to this article.

Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com and Brody Mullins at brody.mullins@wsj.com