Hard Bargaining

President Reagan seems to have put together a politically effective balance of moderation and truculence on pending trade disputes. He has, as he should have, spared Brazil rude shocks. And he has made demands on the European Community just outrageous enough that they may be driven to do what they have said all along that they would do.

This drama is intended primarily for Congress and the constituents who are pushing for punitive protectionist legislation. The demand for additional import restrictions will be further fueled by November figures, just released, that point to a record $173-billion trade deficit for 1986.

The President has shown a good deal of courage, even in the thick of political campaigns, resisting the simplistic solutions that some on Capitol Hill have advocated. His latest initiatives reflect more of that good sense.

Brazil is and must remain a special case, both a great nation and a tender democracy that deserves all the coddling that Washington can contrive as it struggles through these first years without the heavy hand of the military. The six-month extension of trade negotiations with Brasilia makes sense. The Brazilians have already shown constructive flexibility and appreciation that the United States cannot accept a totally one-sided situation in trade between the two nations.

American bankers--deeply concerned about the monumental Brazilian debt, much of it owed them--may have breathed the heaviest sigh of relief when Reagan eschewed the sanctions that some had urged on him.

Given the season--when Brie, brandy and canned hams all have a special place--we cannot help but think that Reagan had a certain sense of humor in the list of European imports that he has chosen to punish with 200% tariffs.

But the choice also will get the attention of people in Europe who have been slow to keep their promise to work out appropriate compensation for the lost market for American corn and sorghum exports caused by the expansion of the European Community a year ago to include Spain and Portugal.

Canada and the United States have demonstrated, with the settlement of their dispute over Canadian softwood exports, how fruitful negotiations can be in avoiding trade wars, but also how useful threats of retaliation can be in galvanizing the attention of the negotiators.

The fact is that the differences in the negotiations with the European Community have boiled down to what can only be called petty dollars in contrast to the dimensions of their total trade, but promises are promises. Left alone, the European Community can be forgetful of its obligations, especially when it comes to farm products. The Reagan reprisals now almost certainly will bring to a successful conclusion another round of negotiations before the price of Brie turns us all to Monterey Jack.