James Bacchus, former World Trade Organization (WTO) appellate body chairman, told FOX Business that the United States may fail to win its court battle against countries who filed formal complaints with the WTO against the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

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“The United States is bound to lose all the cases that [are] being brought against it by other countries arising from the steel [and] aluminum tariffs,” Bacchus said during an interview on “Countdown to the Closing Bell.”

China and the European Union are among the countries not only protesting President Trump’s 25% tariff on imported steel and 10% on aluminum, but are now demanding official WTO intervention.

Trump has vowed that imposing sanctions on China and U.S. allies is a matter of national security.

“Those tariffs have not been imposed for national security reasons, but purely for economic reasons to encourage other countries to do as Donald Trump wishes,” Bacchus said.

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows tariffs to be placed on imports to protect national security. The White House said in a statement that the steel and aluminum tariffs have already had a positive effect on workers and jobs.

However, Bacchus said tariffs will force U.S. consumers and producers of goods to pay higher prices, putting American businesses out of the world marketplace.

“We will see a decline in American competitiveness, innovation and growth,” he said.