*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)
The U.S. House of Representatives made history on Friday, after voting to pass a sweeping cannabis decriminalization and social equity bill.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler debated her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, Sunday night, while challenger Jon Ossoff debated an empty podium when incumbent Sen. David Perdue refused to debate ahead of the January Senate runoffs in Georgia.
Joe LaVorgna, the chief economist for the White House National Economic Council, talked to Cheddar about the economy and the recently released jobs report'.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Biden stopped just short Thursday of the nationwide mandate he’s pushed before to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Three former presidents say they’d be willing to publicly take a coronavirus vaccine, once one becomes available, to encourage all Americans to get inoculated against a disease that has already killed more than 273,000 people nationwide.
The U.S. has recorded over 3,100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring.
The Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed the nomination of Christopher Waller for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, placing another of President Donald Trump’s picks on the Fed’s influential board after a string of high-profile rejections.
IBM security researchers say they have detected a cyberespionage effort that used targeted phishing emails to try to collect vital information associated with a U.N. initiative for distributing coronavirus vaccine to developing countries.
President-elect Joe Biden has swung behind a bipartisan COVID-19 relief effort. That comes as his top Capitol Hill allies cut their demands for a $2 trillion-plus measure by more than half.
