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As a friend of mine said, “I’m glad 2014 is here, I’ve been waiting for it all year!” I think I agree, but the trade community may not. While 2013 was a rough year for trade and for Congress, 2014 doesn’t look that much better.
In 2013 we saw the following trade programs expire.
January 1, 2013
* Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (duty-free treatment for imported inputs used to make goods in the U.S. or to which there is no domestic opposition and that have a minimum impact on revenue)
July 31, 2013
* Generalized System of Preferences (duty-free treatment for least-developed and developing countries on specific non-sensitive products)
* Andean Trade Preferences Act (duty-free benefits for Ecuador)
Trade policy was no doubt affected by major government crises such as the government shutdown and the brinksmanship on the debt ceiling vote. Overall, Congress managed to pass only 65 bills. Seven of those bills renamed buildings, bridges, stretches of highway or sections of previously passed laws, while another specified the size of the precious-metal blanks that will be used in the production of the National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins. Many of the other bills were extensions of provisions expiring in other laws and two were for continuing resolutions. In comparison, the 112th Congress, heretofore the least productive in terms of bills passed, managed to get 561 bills passed in two years.
Looking ahead to 2014 causes some consternation as well, with the following programs set to expire.
January 1, 2014
* Trade Adjustment Assistance (coverage to service providers gone, payments decreased but some coverage under the 2002 measure continues)
January 15, 2014
* Continuing resolution (the deal reached last year to end the government shutdown ends)
February 7, 2014
* Debt ceiling (the Fed predicts this is the date we will reach the revised ceiling)
September 31, 2014
* Ex-Im bank (funding will end)
December 31, 2014
* Nicaragua tariff preference level (which has increased U.S. exports of fabric)
* Trade Adjustment Assistance (the 2002 measure will expire, thus ending all funding)
To this list we should add the need for a Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) bill, which is crucial if there is really going to be a TPP or TTIP finalized and implemented.
For Congress, we can only hope that their New Year’s Resolutions include rolling up their sleeves and getting more productive. Consumers and businesses in the U.S. hope to see a more robust trade policy agenda from them in 2014.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| 696 bearing | 6 | 15 | 5 |
| 694 bearing | 4 | 11 | 4 |