WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A top Trump administration trade official expressed optimism Sunday that the United States (US) Supreme Court will uphold the sweeping tariffs that a lower court has struck down.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday ruled that many of Trump’s tariffs, which have upended global trade, were illegal because he did not have authority to impose them.

But the court allowed the levies to remain in place for now, giving Trump time to take the fight to the conservative-majority Supreme Court.

Peter Navarro, Trump’s adviser on trade issues, said on Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures that the seven-to-four ruling against the tariffs was motivated by politics. He called the judges who voted against Trump’s signature policy “politicians in black robes”.

The dissenting opinions in this vote were “very, very strong”, Navarro said.

“I think it provides a very clear road map to how the Supreme Court can certainly rule in our favour.”

Friday’s ruling said Trump cannot impose open-ended tariffs on almost all imports into the United States, as he is trying to do.

But “we never said they were permanent”, Navarro insisted.

“We feel very optimistic. If we lose the case, President Trump is right. It will be the end of the United States,” he added.

The courts entered the fray following a lawsuit filed by Democratic-run states and a coalition of small import businesses.

The latter are “trying to preserve the right to import cheap Chinese crap, mostly,” Navarro said.

Meanwhile, members of a trades association in India protested against the recent tariff hikes imposed by the US on India in New Delhi on Saturday. Trade minister Piyush Goyal said India will not “bow down”, and instead focus on capturing new markets, in his first public remarks since Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods.

The 50-per cent levies on many Indian imports into the US took effect last week as punishment for New Delhi’s massive purchases of Russian oil, part of US efforts to pressure Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine.

Since his return to the White House this year, Trump has wielded tariffs as a wide-ranging policy tool, with the levies upending global trade.