In this paper, we focused on computing the higher-harmonic components of the transmitted wave passing over a submerged circular cylinder to show that it is causing a horizontal negative drift force. As numerical models, a circular cylinder held fixed under free surface in deep water is adopted. As the submergence of a circular cylinder decreases and the incident wavelength becomes longer, the higher-harmonic components of the transmitted wave starts to increase. An increase of the higher-harmonic components of the transmitted wave makes the horizontal drift force be negative. It is also found that the higher-harmonic amplitudes averaged over the transmitted wave region become larger with the increase of wave steepness and wavelength as well as the decrease of submergence depth.