— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” GoExport co-founder and Vice President Louis-Philippe Bourgeois discusses how Canadian exporters are navigating the shifting tariff landscape.
GoExport is a Montreal-based firm offering international trade advice to both Canadian and American companies, including business strategy and market development.
Bourgeois says exporters in Canada are challenged by uncertainty and financial pressure following the latest salvo of tariffs leveled by the U.S. and their own government, covering about $28 billion of goods.
“And of course, $28 billion represent a lot more in Canada than in the U.S. when we compare the two economies,” he said.
Amid this strained trade environment, Canadian companies are now reviewing their contracts and seeking ways to manage higher costs. That includes exploring other markets outside of the U.S., Bourgeois noted.
“Canadians want to diversify their market, but it takes time,” he said before the Nov. 3 elections. “And of course, U.S. remains an important, the most important, trading partner so we want to keep good relationship. We hope that the situation will change.”
The conversation touches on which products are impacted by the existing tariffs, including dairy products and alcoholic spirits as well as aluminum, steel and wood, as well as the latest developments in trade agreements.
While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has recently opened up trade negotiations with the European Union, Bourgeois notes Canada already has an agreement in place with the EU. But he says that agreement didn’t bring a huge amount of new business relative to the U.S. market.
“Even if we double the exportation to Europe and Europe doubled their exportation to Canada …we’re talking about less than $100 billion per year,” he said. “With the U.S. we’re talking close to $400 billion per year, so it’s not the same market even if we have free access to 28 markets in Europe.”
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.
“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.
— Milwaukee officials are touting a record-breaking year for cruise ships coming to Wisconsin’s largest city, with 19,820 visitors between April and October.
Port Milwaukee had 62 cruise ship calls with eight individual vessels this year, easily exceeding last year’s total when 22 ship calls brought about 11,000 cruise ship passengers.
Benji Timm, director of the port, says this year “truly showed Port Milwaukee’s growing presence” within the Great Lakes cruise industry.
“With continued interest in Milwaukee as a cruise destination and the upcoming opening of our new South Shore Cruise Dock, Port Milwaukee is well positioned to create more opportunities for visitors to experience our city,” he said in a statement.
Construction on that new dock is “on track and on budget” to be finished by year’s end, local officials say. They’re planning an opening celebration for when the first cruise ship arrives in spring 2027.
During this year’s cruise season, Milwaukee had visits by ships operated by Pearl Seas, Ponant, Hapag Lloyd, Victory, Viking and American Cruise Lines.
The last of these is a newcomer to the region, having launched its Great Lakes cruise options with a stop in Port Milwaukee this year. Port officials say the new cruise operator “demonstrates the growing interest in Milwaukee as a destination and gateway” to the region.
Meanwhile, Visit Milwaukee President and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith emphasized the local economic impact of these visits for businesses and the city’s reputation around the world.
She says this year’s cruise season gave visitors “a chance to discover our incredible food, explore our neighborhoods, visit our cultural institutions and experience the hospitality that makes this city so memorable.”
— A UW Health initiative aims to improve care for infants born prematurely, with a focus on those born in the period of “extreme prematurity” as early as after 21 weeks of gestation.
The UW Health Kids and UnityPoint Health–Meriter Hospital Tiny Baby Initiative is an extension of the existing Small Baby Program for those born between 23 and 28 weeks.
Under the direction of its director, neonatologist Dr. Claudette Onyelobi, the effort brings together specialists from across the medical field to provide care for these infants, born after just 21 or 22 weeks. The typical gestation period is 40 weeks.
As medical care has advanced over the decades, the limit of infant viability has been reduced from about 24 weeks to the target range for the Tiny Baby Initiative, according to UW Health. Still, hospital stays for these patients can often take months or even a year before they can be discharged.
Since the initiative began, UW Health Kids and UPH-Meriter say they’ve provided active resuscitation and intensive care for about 12 infants born at 22 weeks. Onyelobi says not all have survived, but those that have represent hope for families facing this challenge.
“Every life we save matters, and every family deserves the chance to see what’s possible,” she said in a statement.
Partners in the initiative are among 61 hospitals around the world participating in the International Tiny Baby Collaborative network, targeting improving care for infants born at 23 weeks or earlier.
— State health officials have warned members of the public of a possible public measles exposure at the Marshfield Medical Center – Weston emergency department.
The Department of Health Services on Friday evening said it’s working with the Marathon County Health Department to investigate the possible exposure, after someone with a confirmed case of measles may have infected others at the hospital.
DHS says the potential exposure period occurred between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, and is urging anyone there at that time to look out for symptoms over the next three weeks or so. These can include fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and a rash that follows other symptoms.
The notice comes after health officials last week reported Wisconsin’s first measles death since 1990. It’s linked to the ongoing outbreak in the state, which has now infected 477 people and resulted in nine hospitalizations.
For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.
— A Waukesha County judge said he expects a ruling in May on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s online sports betting law.
Judge J. Arthur Melvin also granted a motion for a group of the state’s tribal nations, including the Ho Chunk and Oneida nations, to intervene in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty concerns the state’s law, passed in March, which allows online sports betting if the computer server is on a federally recognized tribal nations land.
Plaintiffs argue that the law exclusively benefits tribal nations and is in conflict with a 1993 constitutional amendment that limits the legislature’s ability to approve gambling expansions.
A representative for the plaintiffs said they plan to file an amended complaint by mid-December and reference the constitutional amendments approved by voters in the election last week.
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the latest WisBusiness column by manufacturing expert Buckley Brinkman.
— Wow. Tuesday night was stunning.
Very few people saw it coming. As the returns rolled in, many analysts were reduced to describing what was happening rather than explaining it. The results broke through the usual patterns and put all of us in new territory.
Read the full column by Buckley Brinkman here.
Find more columns from Brinkman at the AI in Wisconsin page.
TOP STORIES
After cyberattack, rural Washburn County is upping security
How did Madison land on National Geographic’s ‘world’s best’ list?
Port Milwaukee ends record cruise season with nearly 20,000 visitors
TOPICS
BANKING
– Inside Bank of America’s $100M plans for Wisconsin
ECONOMY
– Wisconsin drivers see gas prices dip below $4 for first time in months
ENVIRONMENT
– Record-breaking lake sturgeon caught in northern Wisconsin this fall
– Why a Wisconsin man foraged all his food for a year
POLITICS
– To avoid joining Madison, residents urge McFarland to OK annexation
REAL ESTATE
– Sussex’s 209-home Wildflower development moves toward first homes
RETAIL
– The price of groceries rose at many Milwaukee-area stores in October
– Milwaukee aldermen allocate $1.8 million for grocery store and pharmacy retention
SMALL BUSINESS
– Little Susie’s Coffee and Pie expands from Philadelphia to West Allis with handheld pies
TOURISM
– Cruise ship traffic this year shattered Port Milwaukee records
PRESS RELEASES
See these and other press releases
Fox Cities Chamber: Seminar will take a look at the changing economy and what lies ahead for 2027
