Tammy Baldwin

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is touring Wisconsin to highlight rising costs for families and farmers.

Baldwin attributes the increased costs to President Donald Trump's policies on trade and the war in Iran.

A White House spokesperson stated the president is providing relief to working-class families and has secured new trade deals.

The Trump administration recently imposed new tariffs on Canada and announced plans to import more foreign beef.

MADISON – Amid plummeting support for the war in Iran and an escalating trade war with Canada, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin launched a statewide tour on Tuesday highlighting rising costs she attributes to initiatives driven by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

The Democratic senator's tour, which began with a roundtable discussion Aug. 25 at the Dane County Boys & Girls Club, is focused on costs to families as children go back to school. But Baldwin also noted the potential effects of tariffs and a new plan to import more foreign beef on the state's farmers.

"We talked about today the expenses that parents face when they're getting their kids ready to go back to school, and during these times of Donald Trump's tariff, trade and war policies, they are shouldering the burden, but so are our farmers," Baldwin told reporters.

Baldwin pointed to a report by Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee that showed prices are about $3,300 higher on everyday goods and services for the average Wisconsin household since Trump took office in 2024.

In response to Baldwin's comments and congressional Democrats' report, a White House spokesperson said the president is delivering on providing relief to working-class families where Democrats have failed.

"President Trump’s trade agenda has secured almost 20 new trade deals and trillions in investments into American manufacturing – all while the Administration has lowered prices of eggs, dairy, and prescription drugs," the White House spokesperson said. "Democrats spent decades talking about restoring middle-class manufacturing jobs and providing economic relief for working-class Americans. President Trump is actually delivering."

Within the last week, the Trump administration has announced plans to import 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef, imposed new tariffs on Canadian goods after talks between the countries collapsed and pledged to bring about an "economic D-day" for Iran.

The U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports are expected to primarily impact goods flowing into the United States from Canada’s auto, alcohol and dairy industries, while oil, natural gas, critical minerals and a few other Canadian products remain exempt.

Canada has pledged to enact retaliatory "dollar-for-dollar" counter-tariffs on American goods concentrated in sectors including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.

Iran has threatened to respond to the Trump administration's economic offensive by ceasing oil exports.

"Since President Trump took office, he has created trade wars and increased tariffs. A lot of the products that kids need when they go back to school – notebooks, pencils – they are often manufactured overseas, and we're seeing dramatic increases because of the trade wars and tariffs," Baldwin said.

"We also have the impacts of the illegal war in Iran. We have transportation costs, because fuel has skyrocketed, and so families are under stress as they're getting ready to send their kids back to school. We need to hold this president to account. We need to end the war in Iran, and we need to end his trade wars."

Baldwin's tour comes after both the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and the Wisconsin Farmers Union have come out against the president's recent announcement that he will ease tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef imported into the U.S. for the next 90 days in an effort to reduce prices.

In a statement, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation president Brad Olson called the plan "deeply concerning."

"Price manipulation is un-American when it is done by the government, regardless of the intention behind it," Olson said. "Agriculture is facing a downturn unlike anything seen in decades … We should be looking for ways to strengthen American agriculture and expand domestic production rather than artificially manipulating prices."

Wisconsin Farmers Union president Darin Von Ruden said in a statement that "increasing beef imports sidesteps a bigger question: Why is there such a wide gap between what consumers pay for beef and what makes its way back to the farm?"

Von Ruden said his organization supports "enforcing antitrust laws, supporting independent and regional processors, improving price transparency, and giving farmers more places to sell their livestock" along with mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef.

Farmers had already been affected prior to the war in Iran, Baldwin said, noting that ingredients for fertilizer are sourced from outside the U.S., and previous tariffs led to China boycotting American soybeans.

"Our farmers are shouldering the burden of a lot of Trump's backward policies, starting with the trade wars and tariffs," Baldwin told reporters.

The report Baldwin cited specifically highlighted increases in housing, grocery, energy and health care costs.

The inflation crisis began under President Joe Biden, in the waning months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has persisted through Trump's second term as the president has continued to pursue import tariffs and battles with Iran.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at [email protected].