April 30, 1987

LEAD: THE ECONOMY The House approved a restrictive trade bill amendment, reflecting disarray over the direction of a new trade policy. The measure, proposed by Representative Gephardt, requires retaliation according to a rigid formula against countries such as Japan, whose large trade surpluses with the United States have grown, in part by shutting out American products.

LEAD: The suites at the Bristol Hotel in Paris were superb, the foie gras in southwestern France was divine, lunch in Lyons was glorious. Truly, Dana Dixon wrote later, the two-week tour in 1983 was a dream trip.

LEAD: Like a team brought in to rescue a foundering Wall Street corporation, the directors of the PTL television ministry set out this week to restore the confidence of their investors, the tens of thousands of faithful who helped collect $129 million last year.

LEAD: New York City plans to expand its Police Department by almost 2,000 officers next year, bringing it to where it was before bankruptcy threatened the city 12 years ago.

LEAD: Two prominent Bolshevik revolutionaries who have long been denigrated in the Soviet Union have re-emerged as characters in a play published this month.