GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Hinterland Brewery held a tour for Senator Tammy Baldwin and other local businesses Thursday morning before heading to TitletownTech to hold a roundtable discussing the impact tariffs have had on them, including new ones enacted earlier that day.
How struggling to manage a business in the modern-day era has Baldwin going around the state and hearing stories.
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“The uncertainty that we have seen over these first several months are almost a tariff in and of itself. It’s been chaotic. There was a first round of tariffs, the market went haywire, and then they were paused, and the president promised he would have 90 deals in 90 days,” said Baldwin.
The roundtable allowed different owners to stress how the tariffs have made their day-to-day lives more challenging, including Hinterland owner and CEO Bill Tressler.
“In the long run, [it] impacts the consumers in terms of how much they purchase, and how far their dollars can go.”
[Talking about Hinterland] “We talked about trading partners. He is exporting beers to other countries, but Canada, in response to our tariffs, has taken all U.S. beers off its shelves — closing off an export market and harming a small business right here in Green Bay,” Baldwin said.
Senator Baldwin is not opposed to the tariffs President Donald Trump is using but says she would prefer they be used more strategically, and not so erratically.
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“I believe that we should use tariffs in a very tactical way when a country or a business or industry is cheating, undercutting American workers,” Baldwin said. “There should be a tariff — that should be the response. There are also non-tariff sanctions that can be used.”
Senator Baldwin also mentioned that being able to reach out and speak to different owners allows her to see how businesses are handling the tariffs and helps her form a plan to assist.
