A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily agreed to preserve many of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners. The move paused an earlier decision by a separate court that would have forced the White House to wind down duties deemed to be illegal.

The new order, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, granted the pause on an administrative basis. That decision bought time for the panel’s judges to consider the government’s ask for a longer delay, as Mr. Trump pursues a ruling that would safeguard one of the most potent tools in his global trade war.

Since taking office, Mr. Trump has relied on a federal emergency powers law as a form of political leverage, hoping to use sky-high duties — or the mere threat of them — to force other governments to make trade concessions.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade dealt an early blow to that strategy. The bipartisan panel of judges, one of whom had been appointed by Mr. Trump, ruled that the law did not grant the president “unbounded authority” to impose tariffs on nearly every country, as Mr. Trump had sought. As a result, the president’s tariffs were declared illegal, and the court ordered a halt to their collection within the next 10 days.

The administration quickly asked the trade court to pause any enforcement of its order as it embarked on an appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, where it also sought emergency relief.