News of the Day

President Donald Trump said late Tuesday that he is pausing 50% tariffs on Canadian goods scheduled to take effect Wednesday, saying the two countries have reached a deal pending final documentation.

“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” Trump added.

The duties would have covered roughly $20 billion in Canadian imports, including liquor, dairy products, vehicles, hockey equipment and other goods. Certain food products, wearables, synthetic materials and industrial goods were also expected to be affected.

President Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday night and reportedly spoke with him again Tuesday afternoon.

Insurers seeking ACA plan premium increases in Wisconsin for 2027 say rising medical costs and greater use are driving their double-digit requests, while advocates raise concerns about affordability.

Health insurers in the state are requesting an average premium increase of 20.9% for next year, according to rate review filings posted online. All 12 of the insurers that proposed rates for the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace are requesting increases, ranging from about 11% to more than 30%.

Of the 12 insurers that requested rate increases in the state, five responded to requests for comment on their proposals.

Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, which is proposing the largest increase across its plan categories at 30.88%, said its proposal reflects the expected cost of providing coverage in the coming year and aims to “ensure we can continue to provide high-quality coverage” for its customers.

Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation, which operates as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin, is requesting a 16.48% rate increase. Spokesperson Emily Snooks says the company’s proposed rates are “a direct reflection of local healthcare costs,” arguing Wisconsin has some of the highest costs in the country.

Meanwhile, Healthpartners Insurance Company is requesting a 15.59% increase, based on anticipated changes in healthcare utilization and benefits. A spokesperson for the insurer said the increase accounted for expected “future medical inflation” and benefit changes between this year and next, based on shifting state and federal regulations.

Medica Community Health Plan, which is requesting a 24.56% increase, says the request “reflects a priority on high value plan offerings and provider partnerships” along with ensuring rates cover the cost of care.

The state’s ACA plan enrollment total dropped by nearly 46,000 earlier this year as the enhanced subsidies went away, falling from 291,336 at the end of open enrollment to 245,753 in February. That decline of 16% matched the national trend.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.1% on a monthly basis and is up 3.4% from a year ago.

The monthly data follows a reading of negative 0.4% in June, while the annual figure is slightly cooler than last month’s 3.5% reading.

So-called core prices, which exclude volatile measurements of gasoline and groceries to better assess price growth trends, were up 0.2% from a month ago and are 2.5% higher year over year. The monthly figure represents a slight uptick after price growth was flat in June, while the annual figure is slightly cooler than last month’s 2.6% reading.

Energy prices fell 1.5% on a monthly basis in July, but remain up 14.7% from a year ago. That follows a decline of 5.7% in June, when energy prices were easing quickly.

Food prices increased 0.1% from a month ago and are up 3% compared with last year. The food at home index declined 0.1% in July and is up 2.7% from a year ago, while the food away from home index rose 0.3% in July and is 3.4% higher than last year.

Housing prices rose 0.1% in July, which the BLS noted was responsible for about two-thirds of the total monthly increase, while the shelter index is up 3.2% from a year ago. Tenants’ and household insurance prices decreased 0.1% in July but are up 4.8% from a year ago.

Transportation services prices rose 0.3% in July and are up 2.9% from a year ago. Airline fares rose 2.2% in July and are up 25.5% over the last year.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule that permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.  The final rule is effective on its publication in the Federal Register. FinCEN today also announced that it will delete previously reported information by U.S. persons—now exempt from the reporting requirements—from the beneficial ownership information database.

“Today’s action is a victory for common sense and American small businesses,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “President Trump promised to cut red tape, and this final rule delivers. Treasury is eliminating a burdensome reporting requirement for millions of law-abiding business owners without compromising our national security.”

The final rule:

• adopts the exemptions set out in the interim final rule issued in March 2025, making the rollback of beneficial ownership reporting by U.S. companies permanent;
• exempts U.S. persons who have obtained FinCEN IDs from any obligation to update or correct the information they originally provided to FinCEN to obtain their FinCEN IDs;
• eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to report U.S. person “company applicants” (i.e., the individuals who helped those foreign companies register to do business in the United States);
• exempts foreign pooled investment vehicles registered in the United States from reporting the beneficial ownership information of a U.S person in control of the investment vehicle; and
• confirms that FinCEN will delete information about any individuals—company applicants, beneficial owners, or recipients of a FinCEN ID—that FinCEN reasonably believes is a U.S. person (e.g., the information is linked to a U.S. passport or U.S. driver’s license).

Under the final rule, foreign entities that are reporting companies will still be required to report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals.

In addition to the final rule, FinCEN has issued Frequently Asked Questions, and will be updating guidance on FinCEN.gov to reflect the final rule.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin governor Tuesday, marking an unexpected comeback after suspending his campaign earlier in the race.

Crowley won with 39.8% of the vote and Francesca Hong took second with 39.4% of the vote.

Tuesday capped off a whirlwind of a primary that saw a seven-candidate field narrow to four in the course of two months. Crowley dropped out of the race on July 8 and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. The move set up Rodriguez as the front-runner for the Democrats. But just days later, she fired her campaign manager over inaccurate campaign finance filings.

The scandal blew up in Rodriguez’s face and, by the end of that week, she ended her campaign. Crowley hopped back into the fight and grabbed the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers.

In a statement on social media, Evers said Crowley “earned this win” and “can’t wait for him to be our next governor.”

Tuesday’s results set up a race between Crowley and Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany to succeed Evers.

The IRS on Wednesday issued Notice 2026-28, providing guidance on how employers can use the new premium-based method to calculate the expanded credit for paid family and medical leave (PFML) under the 2025 tax law.

H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as the OBBBA, made the PFML credit in Sec. 45S permanent and made substantive changes to enhance the credit and expand its availability to a broader group of employers. However, employers must ensure that their written leave policies are compliant during the first full year that the amended Sec. 45S changes are in effect, which is 2026.

H.R. 1 offers greater incentives for businesses to offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave, which employees may use to recover from a serious health condition or to care for certain family members with serious health conditions, the IRS said.

H.R. 1 also made other changes to the credit, including:

• Expanded eligibility: Employers can claim the credit for employees with six months of service and for part-time employees customarily working 20 hours or more per week.
• Expanded coverage: Employers can claim the credit for insurance premiums to provide leave or for wages paid during leave.
• State and local mandates: Employers can count leave provided under state or local mandates toward the eligibility for this federal tax credit, but not toward the credit calculation.

Beginning in 2026, employers can claim the credit for premiums paid for PFML insurance policies, in addition to wages paid during PFML leave. Also beginning this year, more employers providing paid family and medical leave that meets certain requirements can take advantage of a general business tax credit. That credit ranges from 12.5% to 25% of wages paid to qualifying employees for up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave per tax year.

To help employers apply the new premium-based method, the notice addresses how the premium-based method compares to the wage-based method; how to allocate the qualifying premiums; and how to elect between the premium method and the wage method.

Forthcoming proposed regulations will provide broader guidance to address the statute comprehensively and provide certainty to taxpayers, the IRS said.

According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States remained the world’s largest crude oil producer in 2025, extending a streak that began in 2018 when the United States overtook Russia to become the world’s leading producer.

Crude oil production in the United States, including lease condensate, averaged a record-high 13.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2025, breaking the previous U.S. and global production record of 13.2 million b/d set in 2024. U.S. crude oil production was about 40% higher on average in 2025 than that from the next two largest global crude oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. crude oil production has been buoyed by continued gains in drilling productivity and operational efficiency across key shale basins, which allow operators to extract more oil per well. The growth in output continued in 2025 despite lower oil prices; West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices dropped from an average of $77/b in 2024 to $65/b in 2025 amid global oversupply. Production growth was particularly strong in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, which had a 4% increase in crude oil production, from 6.3 million b/d in 2024 to 6.6 million b/d in 2025. The Permian accounted for approximately 48% of U.S. production in 2025.

Shale oil and gas development in the United States became notable when in 2008 it reversed a multi-decade decline in U.S. crude oil production. U.S. crude oil production powered by shale development has turned the United States into not just the world’s largest producer, but the largest producer of crude oil ever.

The difference between the United States and other major producers widened in 2025, with Russian output largely unchanged and Saudi Arabia recording modest growth as a result of OPEC+ unwinding voluntary production cuts. Crude oil production including lease condensate in Saudi Arabia increased from 9.2 million b/d in 2024 to 9.6 million b/d in 2025. Russia’s crude oil production averaged 9.9 million b/d in 2024 and remained largely unchanged in 2025 as a combination of voluntary production cuts and effects of the conflict with Ukraine limited crude oil output growth.

A transmission utility has filed plans with state and federal regulators aimed at shielding customers from transmission costs tied to data centers.

Late last month, American Transmission Company and We Energies filed an application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin seeking approval of a transmission charge agreement for Microsoft’s data center in Mount Pleasant.

It comes as ATC is planning more than $2 billion in transmission infrastructure projects tied to data center developments across Wisconsin. Those range from new high-voltage power lines and substations to upgrades to existing facilities.

The proposal is the first in a series of agreements aimed at making sure customers aren’t on the hook for transmission costs for data center projects, including others in Port Washington and Beaver Dam.

Bob McKee, director of interconnection solutions at ATC, said the company requires minimum transmission charge agreements when transmission construction costs exceed $100 million or when transmission facilities are designed to serve more than 100 megawatts of demand.

“We’ve had other ways to protect customers from costs associated with the transmission capacity requested for a specific large load project, like a data center,” he said. “This is the newest protection. This is just another mechanism that we’ve put in place after gauging, over time, developments in our footprint.”

In a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ATC said the agreement is designed to protect customers as energy needs ramp up for Microsoft’s project in Racine County and if the project ends up using less transmission capacity than planned.

Under the terms of the agreement, the PSC application says ATC will calculate a minimum transmission charge that would require We Energies to pay for the full amount of transmission capacity requested for the project, even if Microsoft ultimately uses less capacity than anticipated.

“It starts charging that utility for this transmission capacity that they requested for their customer when those facilities go in service, not necessarily when they start using it,” McKee said.

WEDC provided $229 million to 303 businesses and other recipients in Wisconsin in the latest fiscal year, exceeding the prior year’s total of $198 million.

That’s according to Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary and CEO John Miller, who discussed the state agency’s annual impact yesterday during a meeting of its Board of Directors. He noted the total is the highest for a given year since 2018. WEDC was created in 2011.

“This work encompasses all sorts of different areas we work in, helping communities create and retain vibrant downtowns, attracting businesses to our state and providing them with the resources to grow, enabling startups to progress from concept to reality and promoting Wisconsin goods and services throughout the world,” he said.

He noted the dollar figure also captures the agency’s work to attract foreign direct investment into Wisconsin from elsewhere around the world.

Miller yesterday also touted the agency’s most high-profile business attraction deal of the year: Eli Lilly’s expansion in Kenosha County, providing up to $100 million in tax credits for the $4 billion project. That includes $18 million for job creation and $82 million for capital investment.

Meanwhile, WEDC in fiscal year 2026 provided 225 grants to businesses, nonprofits and communities in the state totaling $39.26 million, reaching 67 of the state’s 72 counties, Miller said.

Governor Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency after severe storms caused widespread damage throughout eastern Wisconsin on Monday.

At least one tornado has been confirmed by the National Weather Service with preliminary surveys indicating an EF3 tornado damaged the Menasha and Appleton area.

“We are continuing to assess the devastation and destruction Wisconsin is seeing, especially in the Fox Cities, and we are committed to doing everything we can to help every family, business, and community affected recover,” said Gov. Evers.

“This emergency declaration will ensure every available resource is deployed so we can respond quickly to the needs on the ground, and I want to thank the neighbors, emergency and first responders, local partners, and volunteers who are already working to help to restore essential services, clean up neighborhoods, and assess the damages. Together, we will recover and recover stronger, and I ask everyone to keep the families and communities affected in your thoughts over the coming days and weeks as they rebuild.”

Multiple fire services, law enforcement, public works, utilities, volunteer organizations and other emergency response agencies have been deployed to help the public with recovery operations.

The State of Emergency Operations Center was elevated to a “level 3.” Gov. Evers’ declaration will help ensure agencies, local partners, utilities and emergency management officials can continue working together and respond quickly to damage and effects caused by the severe weather.

Wisconsin Emergency Management, has been working with counties to assess damage and determine resources needed for a speedy recovery.