Podcasts, Webinars, and More Resources

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Prof. Denis Leclerc of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University shares insights on negotiating international trade deals. 

Leclerc, who teaches cross-cultural communication and global negotiations, emphasizes the importance of building trust for developing international trade. He also raises the question of whether European countries and Canada can trust the United States as a trading partner amid ongoing tariff tensions. 

“If you don’t have that trust, where you know, we understand, we’re going to trade goods and services because it’s in both’s interest, both benefits … both sides are going to lose that part, that notion of trust,” he said. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Chris Wojtowicz of the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center discusses the latest developments in federal tariff policy. 

Wojtowicz, an international trade consultant and chairman of the Wisconsin District Export Council, says he’s urging his clients to stay positive despite the current uncertainty. 

“The world’s not fallen or coming to an end, there are a lot of opportunities to be found out there … politics and governments and personalities and rhetoric aside, people are still looking for your solution,” he said. “So let’s lead with that.” 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Aquarius Systems President Jane Dauffenbach discusses how tariffs are impacting the North Prairie company. 

The business makes various machinery for aquatic applications, ranging from weed harvesters to excavators, trash skimmers and more. 

Dauffenbach says Aquarius Systems has been exporting since 1970, shipping aquatic plant harvesters to customers in Iceland’s kelp industry. Its products have now been shipped to dozens of countries across Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and elsewhere.

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Michael Best Strategies Partner Sarah Helton offers an update on the latest tariff developments. 

Helton, the practice group chair for government and trade for the advisory firm, said the recent 90-day reprieve from more substantial tariffs on most countries is giving businesses some wiggle room to adjust supply chains and other factors. 

“What a sigh of relief for a lot of companies that are impacted in a negative way by these tariffs,” she said. 

In this “Talking Trade” podcast, WEDC Chief Operating Officer Sam Rikkers discusses tariffs, export trends and how the agency helps Wisconsin businesses reach international markets. 

“Mexico, as Wisconsin’s second largest trading partner, is a place that we go back to quite regularly,” he said. “And that’s because our Wisconsin companies, when they’re looking to expand their markets, they’re looking at our neighbor to the south as a place of just tremendous opportunity.” 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Michael Best Strategies Partner Sarah Helton discusses the impact new tariffs may have domestically and on major U.S. trading partners. 

Helton, the firm’s practice group chair for government procurement and trade, says President Trump’s newly enacted tariffs on steel and aluminum and other goods have created a “period of uncertainty” for the international trade landscape. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Kallman Worldwide President and CEO Tom Kallman touts the prestige of U.S. medical products on the global stage. 

The interview was recorded during the recent Arab Health trade show in Dubai, where Kallman Worldwide has been organizing U.S. participation since 1995. At the time, the show included 27 American businesses — including major players such as Johnson & Johnson and GE Medical — and that’s grown to more than 400 in the 2025 conference. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Ben Miller of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin touts the opportunity for dairy exports to reach new markets. 

Miller, Senior Vice President of Industry Relations for the dairy business promotion group, shares insights on Wisconsin’s specialty cheese and other dairy products being shipped to markets around the world. While Canada and Mexico are the top export destinations, Miller says the group sees “a lot of growth” and opportunity in places like South Korea and China and elsewhere in Asia. 

In this edition of “Talking Trade,” Explore Markets Founder and Managing Partner Fredrik Udd discusses opportunities for doing business in Poland and other parts of Europe. 

Explore Markets, based in Poland, offers market research, supply chain help, export readiness assessments and other services. It works with international companies expanding operations in central and eastern Europe, as well as the Nordic nations. 

Udd touts the strength of the Polish economy, calling it a “powerhouse” for Europe in business, politics and defense.

 “It’s the land of business opportunities in Europe … development in Poland over the past 20, 30 years has been just fantastic and it’s really mindblowing to see what Poland has achieved during these years,” he said. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” FTI Consulting Managing Director Nick Baker says trade tensions with China are “guaranteed” to escalate going forward. 

Baker, a licensed customs broker with the Washington, D.C.-based advisory firm, weighs in on the impacts of ongoing tariffs on Chinese goods. He predicted trade conflicts between the United States and China would continue to rise. 

“The primary question is, how quickly, to what extent, and whether these are broad-stroke measures or more targeted,” Baker said.

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” consultant Mickeala Carter offers insights on the next U.S. farm bill and ag export trends. 

“When you’re thinking about agricultural exports and what that means for our farmers here, a lot of that now is due to U.S. ag output growing faster than domestic demand for a lot of products, and some of those products include those of importance to Wisconsin, like dairy products, meats, vegetables,” said Carter, senior director of government affairs for FTI Consulting.

She attributes a rise in international exports to rising incomes and growing populations in other countries, connectivity through the internet and more. This has come after U.S. exports in 2018 and 2019 had a “bit of a decline” related to retaliatory tariffs enacted by other countries, according to Carter. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” AgTrade USA CEO Robert Bishop offers insights on the global livestock market. 

Bishop, who is also the president of the Livestock Exporters Association, discusses the latest developments related to an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu. 

“The main country we’re concerned about right now is Turkey, they’ve cut us off because of it,” Bishop said, highlighting an October visit from a Turkish delegation that’s meant to “show them that bird flu really doesn’t affect the type of cattle that we export.” 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski puts a spotlight on this year’s World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. 

“It’s a big deal, and we are so happy and proud to host it here in America’s dairyland,” Romanski said, adding “it’s estimated to be about 56,000 people in attendance, including about 3,000 international visitors from about 100 different countries.” 

The event includes a trade show featuring speakers on genetics, equipment and animal health, and also highlights an emerging focus of sustainability. Romanski also notes about 600 different businesses are taking part in this week’s expo.

This episode of “Talking Trade” features insights from ABI Research analyst James Iversen, who discusses a recent survey of U.S. and German manufacturers. 

“German and U.S. manufacturers, they have a very similar investment priority when it comes to deployment of new technology … They kind of hope to achieve the same if not very similar goals when they do end up deploying these new technologies,” he said. 

The survey found the top issue faced by both German and U.S. manufacturers is minimizing product defects, Iversen said, while American businesses are putting a greater emphasis on network security issues than German companies. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport Director Brian Dranzik discusses an ongoing expansion project aimed at improving cargo shipping. 

“We’re well on our way to groundbreaking hopefully at the end of this year,” he said, adding the cargo facility will have capacity for five 747-class aircraft at any given time. “Which hopefully will provide some relief for those who are moving cargo freight from Wisconsin and northern Illinois.” 

“A lot of interest, I think, from domestic and international carriers,” he said. “I think it’s just going to come to the point where it’s a ‘if you build it, they will come’ scenario, hopefully. That’s the track where we’re on right now.” 

This episode of “Talking Trade” features banking insights from Judith Pryor, first vice president and vice chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States Board of Directors. 

“We’re considered sort of the bank of large exporters, right, the high-dollar items, and we do quite a bit,” Pryor said. “In fact, last fiscal year we supported over $8.5 billion in finance throughout the world.” 

Still, she notes 80% of its transactions are with American small businesses. As one example, Pryor highlighted Mathews Archery in Sparta, Wis., which the bank has helped export $22 million over the past decade. 

In this edition of “Talking Trade,” German Deputy Consul General in Chicago Gabriela Bennemann discusses the close trade relationship between the Midwest and Germany. 

She highlights the role of Germany’s consulate in the region, ranging from cultural work and services to promoting international trade in partnership with the German American Chamber of Commerce. 

“We as a consulate are best equipped to support the activities of the chamber on a political level,” she said. “Helping with negotiations, negotiating memoranda of understanding, or any such thing. So we work hand-in-hand.” 

In this special edition of “Talking Trade,” Ken Wasylik travels to Sendai, Japan to interview Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company co-founder and CEO Rob LoBreglio, who discusses his experience establishing a craft beer operation in Japan. 

“We ended up transplanting the name here, even though it’s in English and we’re in Japan,” LoBreglio said in an on-site interview at the Madison company’s brewery in Sendai within the country’s Miyagi Prefecture. “And you know, now I am happy. I was not sure about that decision, but now it seems like people are reacting well to it. It’s becoming somewhat iconic.”

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce President and CEO Kurt Bauer discusses export challenges for companies in the state and how they’re addressing them. 

“We are still seeing a hangover effect from COVID, supply chains for some are still tangled,” he said. “But most have solved that problem. Most of our members are telling us that they have resolved supply chain challenges. Inflation, however, I still blame on COVID.” 

The interview also covers tariffs and global shipping lane disruptions linked to conflicts in the Middle East as well as geopolitical instability linked to the war between Russia and Ukraine and tensions between China and Taiwan. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Carroll University School of Business Dean Tim Sullivan touts opportunities for U.S. businesses to reach foreign markets. 

Commenting on a report showing just 5% of American companies do business at the international level, Sullivan said he’s “shocked” that more businesses aren’t taking advantage of that opportunity. 

“Five percent is extremely low … You look at the size of the overseas markets, it’s just flabbergasting that it’s that low, that as Americans we just really don’t concentrate on these abundant and very accessible markets around the world,” he said.

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Port of Green Bay Director Dean Haen discusses the business climate in northeastern Wisconsin and an ongoing expansion project. 

“We’re serving the industries of agriculture, construction and manufacturing, so as they need raw materials, the port serves as the conduit for those commodities,” he said, noting the port ships petroleum products, diesel, ethanol, liquid asphalt, limestone, salt, coal, iron, aluminum, forestry products and more.

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” UK Consul General in Chicago, Alan Gogbashian, shares insights on the post-Brexit global trade landscape and other trends. 

Trade between the United States and the UK is on the rise, he notes, as “the economic relationship is thriving” between the two nations. 

Gogbashian weighs in on the ripple effects of the UK leaving the European Union, noting uncertainty following the move in early 2020 has largely died down. He argues companies “now have the certainty they need,” pointing to various frameworks for “creating certainty and clarity” around international business. 

In this edition of “Talking Trade,” former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Rick Graber discusses the political landscape around the Russia-Ukraine war and how the conflict is affecting European economies. Graber, the former state Republican Party chair and current leader of the Bradley Foundation, says he differs from other Republicans who question why the United States is getting involved by providing aid to Ukraine. 

“I think there is a legitimate American interest, and I think the United States and the Biden Administration should have stepped up sooner, more quickly and more aggressively than they did,” he said.

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” MMAC President Tim Sheehy discusses his 31-year tenure with the Milwaukee chamber and the importance of business exports. Sheehy said one of his most important accomplishments while leading the MMAC has been helping more Wisconsin governors and mayors to understand the competitive global environment for corporate investment, as well as related opportunities. 

“One of the things I’ve learned from the countless trade missions that I’ve been on to Canada, South America, Mexico, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, is that every day those regions are getting up and competing for capital investment and jobs,” Sheehy said. 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Rapport International owner Wendy Pease shares insights on the translation and interpretation industry. Pease discusses how technologies such as Google Translate have influenced this work. 

“When that first came out, we said ‘Oh, is Google Translate going to put us out of business?’ And it hasn’t,” she said. “It’s actually raised the demand for good translation, because now people understand that you can communicate across languages, and that there’s a way to do it appropriately.” 

In this episode of “Talking Trade,” Asian Insiders Partner Primadi Soerjosoemanto shares insights on business opportunities in Indonesia. As the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia has a growing economy that’s attracting investment from many global companies, Soerjosoemanto explained. 

 Soerjosoemanto said policies advanced by the country’s government have drawn investment from around the world. As examples, he pointed to a recent law that allows more foreigners to work and live in Indonesia, as well as a new work permit for entrepreneurs.

In this episode of Talking Trade, Ken Wasylik and Sandi Siegel chat with Heather Ranck, Director of the Rural Export Center, part of the US Department of Commerce. Ms. Ranck highlights resources available to rural companies that export or want to start exporting. According to Ms. Ranck, “There are three main barriers to exporting for rural exporters: knowledge, connections and confidence,”. 

In this episode of Talking Trade, Pawan Bhatnagar of Kasvu Consulting and Asian Insiders highlights the resilience of the Indian economy. Global offshoring, digitalization, and energy transitions are three major trends that will contribute to India’s projected GDP growing by more than double from $3.5 trillion to $7.5 trillion by 2030. 

In this episode of Talking Trade, Ken Wasylik and Sandi Siegel speak with Mark Dodsworth, Managing Director of Europartnerships. Mark is based in the UK and explains how the country has been impacted heavily by the pandemic, invasion of Ukraine, and Brexit. Mark also highlights some areas of opportunities for US companies going into the UK. 

In this episode of Talking Trade, Sandi Siegel and Ken Wasylik speak with guest Mark Rhoda-Reis from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Mark shares the latest figures on Wisconsin agricultural exports in what may be a record-setting year. 

In this episode of Talking Trade, Ken Wasylik discusses his approach for reaching new international markets. Listen in to learn Ken’s first steps to international development, positive takeaways from the pandemic, supply chain issues, and inflation.