The Nation - News from Dec. 4, 1986

U.S. Trade Representative Clayton K. Yeutter said that Congress should not act prematurely in passing trade legislation next year, warning it could hurt the country in the long run. Yeutter, citing the federal budget deficit as “the heart of the trade problem,” said that the Administration has resisted pressure for legislation to address the nation’s record trade deficit--expected to hit $170 billion this year--because most proposals were protectionist, and that it probably will adopt a similar position in 1987. “Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot . . . with a short-term solution,” he told a meeting of Women in Government Relations.