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.