First-Quarter Trade Deficit at 6-Year Low : Economy: Imbalance narrows by 14%; record sales of U.S. products overseas given credit.

The deficit in the broadest measure of U.S. trade shrank to $22.94 billion from January through March, the lowest quarterly imbalance in six years, the government reported today.

The Commerce Department said America’s current account trade deficit narrowed by 14% in the first three months of the year, compared to a $26.69-billion deficit in the final three months of 1989.

The improvement was credited to a record level of sales of American products overseas, which helped reduce the merchandise trade deficit.

U.S. earnings on overseas investments and payments by foreigners for services such as travel and tourism also played a part in reducing the current account imbalance.

The first-quarter deficit was the smallest quarterly trade gap since a $20.5-billion deficit in the first quarter of 1984.

The current account, also known as the balance of payments, is the most closely watched trade statistic because it measures not only trade in merchandise but also trade in services and investments.

Even with the first-quarter improvement, the United States is beginning the new decade in a far different position than it began the 1980s.

Ten years ago, America was the largest creditor nation. It ran surpluses in its current account as the earnings on overseas investments were enough to offset perennial deficits in merchandise trade.

But as Americans handed over billions of dollars to foreigners in payments for imported cars and televisions, the investment cushion eroded. It disappeared altogether in 1985 when the United States became a net debtor for the first time in 71 years.

That means foreigners now own more in U.S. assets than Americans own overseas, a development that has led some to say the United States is losing control over its economic destiny.

Today’s report indicates America’s debtor position has risen to around $670 billion although the government’s official account of the gap between U.S. holdings and foreign investments will not be made until later this month.

The first-quarter current account performance showed that the trade gap was running at an annual rate of $92 billion at the beginning of the year. That would compare to a total current account deficit of $110.03 billion in 1989.

Before the year began, many economists were pessimistically forecasting that the trade deficit would remain stuck above $100 billion for the seventh consecutive year, fearing that foreign demand for U.S. exports would cool in 1990 while America’s import bill would swell because of increased dependence on foreign oil.

However, the actual performance so far has been a pleasant surprise, prompting some analysts to revise their forecasts to show a current account deficit below $100 billion.

For the first three months of the year, the merchandise deficit narrowed by 8.2% to $26.37 billion as an all-time high in U.S. export sales was enough to offset the highest volume of oil imports in more than 12 years.