If U.S. President-elect Donald Trump delivers on campaignpledges to get tough with China on trade, lining up against himlikely will be another powerful adversary: American multinationalcorporations.

These companies have more than $228 billion in China investmentsat stake in the event of a trade conflict between the world's twobiggest economies. Their track record of pushing back againstWashington on trade indicates they'll back their own interests — and thus China — if enmity erupts.

A trade confrontation between China and the U.S. would rippleacross the globe, potentially disrupting China's vast chain ofsuppliers throughout Asia along with the price of consumer goods itexports to markets from New York to New Zealand. While Trump isdetermined to cut into the huge U.S. trade deficit with China,American companies are desperate not to lose ground to competitorsin one of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets.