A U.S. appeals court has declared unlawful most of the tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on other countries around the world. The measure represents a severe blow to the Republican's foreign policy, which has used these duties to renegotiate trade agreements, but also as a tool to pressure foreign governments to achieve objectives other than necessarily economic ones. For now, however, the tariffs will remain in place until mid-October.

The appeals court judges ruled, by a majority of seven to four, that the president overstepped his authority in his use of emergency powers to impose tariffs. “The statutes grant the president significant authority to take a range of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of those actions explicitly include the imposition of tariffs or taxes,” the court noted.

With this decision, the court upheld the ruling issued by the Court of International Trade, which also found that Trump should not have invoked a 1977 emergency powers law, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IIEPA), to impose the tariffs. The court was responding to a lawsuit filed by employees harmed by the levies.

The case does not affect sector-specific tariffs on products such as automobiles, aluminum, or steel. It does concern other tariffs, such as those imposed on Mexico and China in retaliation for what it considers to be those countries' failure to stop fentanyl trafficking entering the United States.

The appeals court judges have sent the case back to the lower court to determine whether the ruling would apply to everyone affected by the tariffs or only to those involved in the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the tariffs remain in place until mid-October, giving the parties time to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

The US president immediately reacted to the court's decision. In a social media post, he wrote,"All tariffs remain in place!" "A hugely partisan appeals court incorrectly said our tariffs should be lifted, but they know the US will win in the end. If those tariffs were to go away, it would be a total disaster for the country," he added.

Trump also insists that the elimination of the taxes"would make us financially weak." "If this decision were to stand, it would literally destroy the United States," he adds.

The White House resident also points out that his administration will appeal, and the issue will end up in the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority (six of the nine justices) usually sides with him."With the help of the Supreme Court, we will use (the tariffs) to benefit our nation, and make America rich, strong, and powerful again."