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>> The trade war with
Canada is a gut punch to

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Wisconsin. Given that our
neighbor to the North is

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the state's largest
international trading

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partner. Wisconsin exports
about $7.5 billion worth of

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goods to Canada and imports
about $5.7 billion worth.

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We export things like
machinery, agricultural

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products, including dairy
and forest products like

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paper. Our imports include
wood, pulp, oil, natural

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gas and aluminum. Trade
talks between the countries

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broke down when the U.S.
imposed an additional 50%

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in tariffs on a range of
Canadian goods, and that

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country, in turn, said it
would impose matching

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tariffs starting just after
Labor Day. For how this

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stacks up and what it means,
we turn to CEO of the

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Wisconsin Economic
John Miller, and thanks

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very much for being here.
>> Frederica. Thanks so

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much for having me.
>> How surprising was it

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for you to see Canada play
hardball and impose these

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matching tariffs?
>> Well, obviously, on a

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state level, you know, we
we don't get to decide

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tariff policy, nor do we
get to influence our our

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partners across the country.
But it is concerning

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because businesses are the
businesses that I meet on a

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weekly basis are reporting
to me that they are very,

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very concerned about the
the unpredictability of the

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changing landscape of
tariff policy. And the way

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they say it is just like it
would be unfair and chaotic

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to change the rules in the
middle of a sporting event.

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Businesses depend on a
level playing field and,

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and also the certainty that
the rules that they face

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today will be the same
rules that they face

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tomorrow. So this constant
roller coaster of tariff

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policy makes it almost
impossible for businesses

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to plan and effectively run
their businesses. They need

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to focus on staffing levels
and certify and place

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orders with suppliers. They
also need to spend an

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extraordinary amount of
time locating and training

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qualified distributors
around the world. So any

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surprise in tariff policy
from a trusted supplier or

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a critical foreign
distributor in a country

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hit with a tariff can bring
production to an absolute

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standstill. So replacing a
supplier can take months,

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and losing a foreign market
can be devastating. Our

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businesses just need
clarity on what the rules

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of the road will be.
>> What sector in Wisconsin

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will be hit the hardest in
this?

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>> Our top exports, as you
mentioned, are industrial

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machinery. And in that
category, our exports were

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down about 12% in 2025. So
we we export a lot of

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electrical machinery,
various vehicle parts, sand,

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salt. We also are the large.
Canada is the largest

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recipient of agricultural
goods from Wisconsin. So

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overall, the state of
Wisconsin exported about $4

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billion of ag products in
2025, and 1.4 billion of

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those went to Canada. So
agricultural products are a

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huge factor for our our
local producers.

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>> Specific to that, even
though Canada has a really

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tightly regulated dairy
industry. How important are

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Wisconsin dairy exports to
Canada?

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>> Wisconsin imports,
excuse me, exports millions

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and millions of dollars of
dairy products to to Canada.

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And AG products accounted
for about 20% of

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Wisconsin's exports to
Canada in 2025. So it is a

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big it is a big part of our
export market. And it's

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it's not just dairy
products. We do other

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agricultural products like
pro prepared foods,

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beverages, wood products.
And of course, you know,

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you wouldn't be surprised
that we, we also export a

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little summer sausage to
them too. But, but as far

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as dairy, whey cheese and
milk are the largest

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exports to Canada.
>> What does this trade

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Moore trade war mean for
consumers really drilling

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down to that level?
>> Well, as I think we've

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seen in a lot of at the
grocery store in the last

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18 months or so, we have
heard lots of stories about

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products getting more
expensive. And so, you know,

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Canada is bringing as our
other countries, bringing

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products into the U.S. that
are going to be tariff,

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which means that they're
going to have an impact on

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what consumers pay at the
grocery store. But I think

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the bigger factor here is
that Wisconsin is a

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producer. We produce not
only machinery through our

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factories, but we produce
products, dairy products

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and other things that go
outside of the country. So

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when when those products
are limited in their

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distribution, our workers
have will have to

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potentially suffer not
having a job if they can't,

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if they can't have a
reasonable place to sell

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their their products. So it
goes both ways. It's the

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price we pay for products,
but it's also the ability

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for our workers to earn
money producing those

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products.
>> As to this Canada U.S.

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trade war that we are in
the midst of right now, do

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you suspect it will resolve
soon?

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>> I can certainly hope so,
because we're feeling the

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effects right here at the
WEDC, for example, we host

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trade missions. It's part
of the mission of the WEDC.

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And we typically host a
trade mission with with

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Canada and with Mexico
every year, because there

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are largest trading
partners. And we had last

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year two separate trade
missions scheduled with

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Canada. And we have
Wisconsin companies that we

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bring along to help them
sell their goods in Canada.

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But we learn from our
Canadian counterparts,

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counterparts across the
border that they were

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reluctant to engage and
meet with our producers

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because they were concerned
about the changing nature

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of tariffs. So we actually
had to cancel that trade

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mission. And so we tried
again in November. Again,

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we got the same the same
response. But we at the

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WEDC will remain undeterred.
We decide that we take a

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different, very local
approach. So we meet with

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state by state
relationships in other

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countries. So we really
need to do our best to keep

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those relationships
positive.

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>> All right. We leave it
there. John Miller, thanks

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so much.
>> Thanks for having me. I

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appreciate it.
>> Drum roll please. The