TUE AM News: Talking Trade with Rachel Ziemba, Ziemba Insights; CROWE report explores impact of manufacturing & ag tax credit

September 29, 2026

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Rachel Ziemba of Ziemba Insights says a recent state meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping “may not give as much certainty to business” as the leaders may hope.

Ziemba is an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security in D.C. and a senior advisor at New York-based Horizon Engage.

She explains the diplomatic visit by the Chinese leader was meant to mirror “the pomp and circumstance and ceremony” that greeted Trump during his earlier visit to China. While the gathering and state dinner involved both diplomats and U.S. business leaders, Ziemba says “it’s not clear that there was a lot of new substance” to any discussions taking place during the meeting.

“This is sort of, if anything, showing a level of respect … the fact that the two leaders are comfortable with each other, but at the end of the day we’re sort of operating on almost a month-to-month kind of extension of the trade rules,” she said.

While the talks involve trade and purchases between two countries, Taiwan, the conflict in the Middle East and de-escalating tensions there to enable more oil flowing out of the region, the Russia-Ukraine war and more, Ziemba said many details of the discussions are not yet clear.

“The devil really is in those details, because that’s what really drives the friction, the compliance that all businesses are having to grapple with right now as the U.S. and China both engage in more export controls and import bans and a whole alphabet soup of new restrictions,” Ziemba said.

Meanwhile, the conversation explores potential avenues for the future U.S.-China trade relationship, including tariff exemptions on various products.

Ziemba also weighs in on shifting trade deficits, rising employment costs in China and the role of U.S. tariffs, emerging trade relationships with other nations and the rise of AI.

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. CEO Sandi Siegel and sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Carroll University and Michael Best Strategies.

Watch the full episode here.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— Wisconsin’s manufacturing and agriculture tax credit “materially improved” the state’s climate for industry, according to a new report from a UW-Madison think tank.

The university’s Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy yesterday issued a report assessing the impact of the tax credit over the last dozen years, based on an analysis of manufacturing operations on either side of the state border.

The tax credit was created through legislation in 2011 and phased in between tax years 2013 and 2016, offering a credit equal to 7.5% of eligible qualified production activities income.

Authors found in-state border counties experienced growth in manufacturing jobs from 2012 to 2025, noting for every 100 jobs at the start of the study period, there were about 117 by the end of this period. Over the state border, that figure had fallen to 96 by last year.

“Had Wisconsin’s border counties followed their neighbors’ path, they would have had roughly 11,900 fewer manufacturing jobs in 2025,” authors wrote, though they note that just captures the scale of the divergence, not a job creation estimate for the tax credit’s impact.

Before this period, authors note “Wisconsin was not already pulling away,” as it had lost ground on a relative basis from 2007 to 2012. But by 2019, the advantage had risen by 7.9%, the report shows.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce President and CEO Kurt Bauer yesterday hailed the report’s findings, calling the tax credit the state’s “most effective tool” for supporting the sector’s growth and job creation.

“Manufacturers of all sizes across the state use the MAC to purchase new equipment, expand operations, and, most importantly, reinvest in employees and hire new workers, all of which stimulate Wisconsin’s economy,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs grew by 21.1% on the Wisconsin side of the border between 2012 and 2025, compared to 5.5% for other sectors including healthcare, retail, restaurants and other “locally oriented” services.

“The largest divergence appeared along the Illinois border, where the manufacturing base immediately across the state line was by far the largest,” authors wrote.

While Wisconsin-side counties had 29.8% growth in manufacturing jobs over the study period, counties on the Illinois side of the border saw employment decline 11.5% in the sector.

The report also shows manufacturing payroll in Wisconsin’s border counties rose by 24.3% over the study period, from $3.71 billion in 2012 to $4.61 billion in 2025. That’s compared to 2.7% over the state line, authors note, adding in-state border payroll would have been about $800 million lower had it stayed in line with the neighboring growth rate.

“The payroll gap reflects employment, not faster wage growth … the [credit] raises the after-tax return to Wisconsin production; it does not directly reduce the wage a plant must pay,” authors wrote.

See the report.

— Nurses at SSM Health Dean Medical Group in Dane County have voted by a 71% margin to form a union, organizers announced, urging the employer to “respect their vote” and begin contract negotiations.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the health care system said SSM Health respects the nurses’ decision and is committed to working constructively through the process ahead, though “we would have preferred an outcome that allowed us to continue working directly with our nurses.”

SEIU Wisconsin says the 340 nurses employed at 10 Dean Medical Group outpatient clinics now have “a united voice” to advocate for better staffing, compensation and supportive policies for nurses.

In a release, the labor union says the nurses are now urging SSM Health leadership to “stop wasting resources on a campaign to try to silence their voices” amid the unionization effort. The union describes an “urgent crisis” of understaffing and burnout at the clinics, as well as experienced nurses leaving.

After filing a petition for the union election in early August, nurses began voting Sept. 22 and results were counted Friday night, according to SEIU. The vote comes after hundreds of nurses employed at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital also voted in favor of unionizing in June.

Kat Doebler, a nurse who works in SSM Health Outpatient Surgery Center, blames executives at the Missouri-based health system for setting policies that force nurses to do more with fewer and fewer resources.

“This intense focus of extracting corporate profits out of us has led to burnout and the loss of some of our very best nurses,” Doebler said in a statement provided by the union. “It’s time for the nurses who actually take care of patients to have a seat at the table in the decisions that affect our jobs and how we provide that care.”

The health system’s spokesperson thanked the nurses who participated in the National Labor Relations Board election, saying SSM Health is grateful for their dedication and the care they provide.

“Together, we will continue supporting our patients, serving our communities, and advancing our Mission of providing exceptional health care services to all,” the spokesperson said in an email.

See the release.

— State health officials have announced an expanded effort to train mental health professionals in Wisconsin in order to prevent more suicide deaths.

The Department of Health Services says it’s extended an existing four-year partnership with Aspirus Health in Wausau while forming a new one with CALM America, which stands for Counseling on Access to Lethal Means.

In a statement on the move, Gov. Tony Evers said elements of this effort will help more providers and community members recognize “warning signs” for suicide and improve healthcare access.

“Both partnerships reduce and remove the stigma around mental health discussions and strongly encourage the kind of open and honest conversations that can save lives,” he said in yesterday’s release.

Aspirus will work to train local providers on methods for assessing people who may be considering suicide and persuading them against it while helping them connect with help. Another element of the effort will focus on improving telehealth-based services.

DHS notes men over age 25 in rural parts of Wisconsin have the highest rates of suicide, and newly expanded efforts aim to help members of this population, who often have more limited access to care resources.

See the release.

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