*By Christian Smith*
Pressure continues to mount on President Donald Trump to walk back his tariff policy, with Russia becoming the seventh World Trade Organization member to officially challenge the White House's duties on steel and aluminum.
And while the organization will take up these cases, Politico trade reporter Megan Cassella said the process will likely take a long time to play out.
"The WTO doesn't tend to do anything quickly," Cassella said in an interview on Cheddar Tuesday.
Even if the WTO, an intergovernmental agency that overseas international trade, does eventually come to a conclusion, the U.S. could still avoid any repercussions.
"Given the Trump administration's sort of disdain for the WTO and its legal rulings, it's also possible that, even if they do eventually come to a conclusion, Trump might just say, 'Well you know, that's it then, that's the end of the U.S. membership in the WTO'," Cassella noted.
Russia's appeal filed last week cites "numerous violations of WTO rules by the United States in introducing this measure," said Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin in a [statement](https://www.rt.com/business/431256-russia-tariffs-us-good/).
The 25 percent tax on foreign steel and 10 percent tax on foreign aluminum took effect June 1. The Trump administration justified the tariffs using the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which grants the president the power to restrict imports to protect national security.
But not everyone is buying into the White House's rationale. China, India, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Norway, and now Russia have all filed complaints with the WTO.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/russia-challenges-trumps-tariffs-in-wto)
California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a recall election in about two weeks. Newsom was elected governor in 2018 with nearly 62% of the vote after working as lieutenant governor for eight years. However, his popularity took a hit after his handling of Covid-19 pandemic, although the White House is refusing to cite this as the direct reason for the September 14th recall election. There are 46 candidates running to be Newsom's replacement, and some are saying that California could end up electing a republican governor.
Jeremy White, California politics reporter and co-writer of daily California Playbook Newsletter at Politico, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more about the election and its possible outcomes.
President Joe Biden says the United States will complete it's evacuation of Americans and others from Kabul, despite the attack that killed 12 U.S. service members and many Afghan civilians.
Crypto-enthusiasts are taking to social media to urge regular Afghans to adopt bitcoin in the face of considerable economic uncertainty.
The U.S. economy grew at a 6.6% annual rate last quarter, slightly faster than previously estimated, the government said Thursday in a report that pointed to a sustained consumer-led rebound from the pandemic recession.
The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant says it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen have targeted crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport, in the waning days of a massive airlift that has drawn thousands of people seeking to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the first time in five weeks even though the economy and job market have been recovering briskly from the coronavirus pandemic.
Secretary of State Blinken said Wednesday that as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan.
Kathy Hochul became the first female governor of New York on Tuesday, vowing to bring new energy and urgency to solving immense challenges as she took over an administration criticized for inaction.
U.S military troops flying round the clock have managed their biggest day of airlifts out of Afghanistan by far.
