Reagan to Press Trade Issues at Summit

President Reagan leaves today for the Venice meetings of the seven major industrial democracies, where he will seek to encourage greater international economic cooperation. However, senior advisers say, little concrete progress is expected toward boosting economic growth among the key allies and stemming trade protectionism.

At the same time, Reagan will try to win support for his efforts to keep open the vital shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf while facing reluctance by some allies to increase military operations in the tense region, where the Iran-Iraq War has raged for 6 1/2 years.

Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III said Tuesday that steps could be taken at the meeting to carry out common economic policies but that no new courses are likely to be set.

“The question is not major new macroeconomic policy measures,” Baker said at a news conference. “The question is implementation. So we will go to the summit with the view that we have agreed upon what needs to be done, and now what we need to see is implementation.”

Because the United States is suffering from record trade deficits, Baker added, “it’s our view that other industrial nations need to do more.”

He predicted that the summit would reaffirm “our resistance to protectionist pressures, and we hope to see a strong endorsement . . . of proposals to deal with agricultural surpluses and subsidies.”

However, Baker acknowledged, such summit conferences are as much about international political matters as they are about economic needs. In addition to the Persian Gulf, other issues to be reviewed include terrorism, the threat of AIDS and East-West relations, particularly the U.S.-Soviet efforts to eliminate medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe.

Three-Day Summit

The three-day summit conference--the 13th in a series that began in France in 1975--will begin Monday. It brings together the leaders of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and West Germany.

Reagan, truncating his schedule because of Italy’s June 14 elections, canceled a series of official meetings and speeches in Rome to avoid any appearance of interfering. But he will fly to Rome on Saturday to confer with Pope John Paul II.

On June 12, his final day in Europe, Reagan will fly to the divided city of Berlin to take part in celebrations marking the city’s 750th anniversary. He will then meet briefly with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn.

Reagan will raise the most important political topic at the summit meeting with his appeal for a greater allied role in maintaining the security of international shipping waters in the Persian Gulf.

The Administration, which is seeking support and assistance in this effort, is planning to begin providing military protection to 11 Kuwaiti tankers that will be flying the American flag sometime this month. This plan has raised fears about increased U.S. involvement in the volatile region since an Iraqi attack on the Navy frigate Stark last month that killed 37 sailors.

“The right way to share the burden” still needs to be worked out, Secretary of State George P. Shultz said in a news conference previewing the trip. He pointed out that the British maintain three warships in the gulf and that the French also patrol the region. The United States is expanding its complement from six to nine ships, Pentagon officials have said.

However, although the Administration does not necessarily envision a military buildup by the allies, “adequate force” is required to keep the oil flowing from the gulf states to Japan and the West, Shultz said in a telecast interview with foreign reporters.

The President has made it clear that he wants other nations who receive a greater share of gulf oil to do more to protect tanker traffic.