SHULTZ PREDICTS RAPID NARROWING OF U.S. TRADE GAP
  Secretary of State George Shultz said
  the U.S. Would erase its large foreign trade deficit faster
  than many predicted, and the consequences for its trade
  partners might be traumatic.
      "The U.S. Economy will inevitably make the adjustment
  necessary to move from a deficit to a surplus trade balance in
  order to service our growing foreign debt," he told a conference
  attended by the six members of the Association of Southeast
  Asian Nations and their leading Western friends.
      "In my view, this will happen more rapidly than many
  observers now predict."
      "The universal strategy of aggressive export-led growth is
  becoming less effective," Shultz said.
      "It is not arithmetically possible for every country in the
  world to be a net exporter at the same time. The U.S. Deficit,
  which we all decry, has been in a sense the place into which
  everyone's export-led strategy for growth has gone."
      "The huge surpluses of Japan and (West) Germany have fed on
  this deficit, so something will have to give and it will be
  possibly a traumatic experience," he added.
      "While you must keep up the pressure on us to eschew
  protectionist policies, you must act too," Shultz said.
      "I can do a better job of convincing the Congress to leave
  our door open to imports if more of our trading partners open
  their doors wider," he told the group, which included
  representatives from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and
  the European Community.
  

