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Updated: 7 hours ago / 2025 Manufacturing Excellence Awards

Manufacturing awards: Knott is fighting to prevent tariffs from hurting customers and companies

photo | Jodi Hilton Photography James Knott, Jr. stands with spools of Riverdale Mills' wire mesh, which is used for applications like fishing, security, and telecommunications.
By Laura Finaldi
2025 Manufacturing Excellence Awards
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Jim Knott, Jr. has been a crucial part of Riverdale Mills since the company was founded in 1980. He is the son of Jim Knott, Sr., the company’s founder, and throughout the years, the younger Knott held roles in operations, finance, and technology before becoming CEO in 2015.

Today, despite steel tariffs that Knott said are causing headaches, Riverdale Mills remains a pillar of innovation in the Blackstone Valley. The Northbridge company produces premium welded wire mesh for a variety of uses. It’s known widely for its Aquamesh, which is used in lobster and shellfish trapping, but the company’s wire mesh is also used for operations like security fencing, poultry flooring, and telecommunications.

About 40% of wire mesh produced at Riverdale’s 400,000-square-foot facility is exported overseas, according to the company. Riverdale imports steel from Canada, Knott said, something the company has done for a long time because of the quality and relatively low cost.

When tariffs were first placed on its materials and products during the first President Donald Trump Administration, Riverdale absorbed the higher cost of steel instead of passing it on to customers, Knott said. But with the new round of 25% tariffs on imported steel, things might have to change, he said.

“They put tariffs specifically on our mesh going into Canada, and they put tariffs on the steel coming back to us,” he said. “It’s a 25% premium to get the product out of Canada, and 25% to get it back in. Our competitors with Europe don’t have any tariffs, so they’ll swoop in and take our Canadian business.”

A bio box for James Knott, Jr.
A bio box for James Knott, Jr.

Pursuing domestic clients is one solution, Knott said, but it’s not so simple. Clients who typically buy wire from China could start looking at companies like Riverdale, but because China produces so much steel, prices from that country are still competitive, even with tariffs imposed on China, Knott said. Plus, the Canada-based steel mill he buys from is American-owned, whereas the domestic steel mills he knows he could turn to are mostly owned by foreign entities.

According to the Trump Administration, the intent of tariffs on materials like steel is to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing industry. But Knott said the practical implications so far have been the opposite.

“There are approximately eight steel mills I can buy from, and five out of eight are owned by foreign entities,” he said. “I find it a little bit of a conundrum that I have to pay a tariff to trade with an American business [in Canada].”

At Riverdale, Knott has made efforts to boost the Central Massachusetts workforce. The company offered training and job opportunities for local residents, specifically veterans, formerly incarcerated people, and recent graduates. The company employs 150, including second- and third-generation employees from the same families.

Like his father before him, Knott said he is a big believer in the power of manufacturing. The industry creates dividends for other sectors of the economy, he said.

“My father always said manufacturing was the place to be when he was growing up. It’s become more difficult as time has marched on, but it has a significant multiplier effect on the economy,” he said. “There are five to six other jobs touched by that for each job we create in Northbridge, like the local sub shop. It has an effect on so many industries because we’re here producing these products.”

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