Today on Bloomberg Baystate Business, Riverdale CEO Jim Knott discusses President Biden’s new Made-in-America initiatives, how tariffs impacted his business, and owning 80% of the marine wire mesh market.
Bloomberg Business News
Bloomberg Radio Interviews Riverdale CEO Jim Knott
The Christian Science Monitor
Trapped in Tariffs, Firms Tied to Lobster Industry Look for Way Out
Northbridge, Mass – A gritty gray mist rises from the ground floor of Riverdale Mills interrupted by explosions of color: yellow, reds, and blues – as if someone had tried to merge this Northbridge, Massachusetts, steel-mesh maker with pieces of a Crayola factory.
Misconceptions about the state of the steel industry in general and the status of the Riverdale Mills Corp. in particular were much on James Knott Jr.’s mind when he agreed to discuss where things stand the afternoon of January 29.
The Wall Street Journal
Trump’s Broken Nafta Promise
When President Trump signed his new Nafta accord last month with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau almost didn’t show up. The reason: Mr. Trump still hasn’t lifted the steel and aluminum tariffs as he promised he’d do if America’s two neighbors signed a revised trade deal.
In June, President Donald Trump enacted a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum from all countries except South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. Next came a tariff on $50 billion worth of goods from China, accompanied by the threat of a tariff on another $200 billion in the future. In response, China, Mexico, the European Union, Canada, and India slapped their own tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. exports, from whiskey to machine parts to dried fruit.
MyChamplainValley.com
NAFTA Compromise Weighs Heavy on Governors, Canadian Premiers
STOWE, Vt. – The 42nd annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers is underway at Stowe Mountain Lodge Resort in Stowe.
The Boston Globe
A Lobster Trap Captures the Complexities of a Global Trade War
NORTHBRIDGE — Every month, Jim Knott Jr. orders at least a thousand tons of steel rods for his wire factory here in the Blackstone Valley. But the shipment from Canada that arrived in June carried an unwelcome addition: an extra charge of $54,000 to cover a new tariff President Trump imposed on foreign steel as part of his aggressive trade policy.
NEWS CENTER Maine
Steel Tariffs Could Impact Lobster Traps, Industry
PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — The lobster industry could be trapped in tariffs. The Maine International Trade Center is surveying lobstermen in the state, who’ve told them they are being pinched by tariffs on lobster exported to China, and by steel and aluminum taxes on lobster traps.
Fish Information & Services
Higher Trap Price Adds Further Trouble to Maine’s Lobstermen Sector
Maine’s lobster industry is now facing a new hurdle: rising lobster trap prices due to the increased cost of steel and labor for makers of this fishing gear.
The Telegram & Gazette
Trade Policy Slaps Central Mass. Companies with Price Hikes
The letter from Canada brought unwelcome news.
ArcelorMittal, a steel manufacturer, announced it was hiking the price of steel it sells to Riverdale Mills Corp. of Northbridge by 25 percent starting June 1 to cover the cost of a new U.S. tariff.