	shultz predicts rapid narrowing of u s  gap secretary of state george shultz said the u s would erase its large foreign  deficit faster than many predicted and the consequences for its  partners might be traumatic the u s economy will inevitably make the adjustment necessary to move from a deficit to a surplus  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 reuter 
