Business: Trying to Right the Balance

But American sales are beset by self-inflicted wounds

It is nowhere near as politically sexy as trying to knock down inflation or prop up the dollar, but Jimmy Carter has another tough economic imperative on his hands: dealing with the trade deficit. Until the late 1960s, the U.S. routinely piled up comfortable surpluses almost without trying. Since then, rapidly rising imports of oil and manufactured goods combined with the relative slackening of the sales of American products abroad have tipped the trade balance perilously out of kilter. In the past three years, the excess of what the U.S. bought over what it sold abroad rocketed to a total of $31 billion, and this year the deficit is expected to hit a record $33 billion. So last week when the President finally announced his long-awaited new National Export Policy, he conceded that "there are no short-term, easy solutions."

The question is whether the Carter program can help much even over the long haul. It is a package of practical measures aimed at making the U.S. more competitive in world markets, and of policy directives intended to alleviate Government obstacles to trade. On the practical side, the President ordered a modest expansion of the federal machinery that helps American businessmen sell their goods abroad. For example, the Export-Import Bank, which provides low-cost loans to foreign buyers of American goods, will be given more generous financing. Also, the Small Business Administration has been authorized to advance as much as $100 million in loan guarantees to little firms that engage in exports.

On the policy , front, Carter ordered Cabinet officers and agency chiefs to pay close attention to the nation's overall trade problem in cases in which sales might be delayed or vetoed for foreign policy or environmental reasons. He directed the Department of Energy, for instance, to approve sales of conventional nuclear reactors abroad after only "abbreviated environmental reviews"; such precautions, mandatory under environmental laws, are one reason why many foreign buyers have turned to other suppliers. The President also ordered the Justice Department to draw up clear guidelines so that U.S. businessmen will know the distinction between legitimate agent fees and bribery.

These new moves may help, but, they are not likely to narrow the wide gap by very much. At first, the Administration had hoped that the cheaper dollar would lift U.S. exports, and to a very limited degree it has done so. Nonetheless, two problems continue to bedevil U.S. trade: