West's '82 trade tipped in East Europe's favor

For the first time in two decades, Western nations last year sold less to Eastern Europe than they bought, the United Nations said. The West still enjoyed a favorable trade balance with the Soviet Union, exchanging machinery and pipeline equipment for oil and gas. But a UN annual survey said a profound adjustment was under way in East-West economic relations. Western imports from Eastern Europe fell 5 percent and exports to the East fell 21 percent last year. The turnaround from a $2 billion Western surplus in 1981 reflected import-curbing policies in the East.