Mr. Istel Explains To THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES: Referring to your article "Post-War Commerce in Europe Discussed," where you mentioned the views which I ex- pressed to the New York University Faculty Club, I wish to make clear that I do not believe in the immediate pos- sibility of a free trade system for all Europe. The point which I tried to stress is that the large amount of import re- quirements and the extreme urgency of some of them would compel continental European governments to control, for a while, both the volume and the na- ture of imports. During that period of strict control there would not be much sense in superposing tariffs over con- trol. This breathing spell should be used for a thorough examination by all na- tions concerned of the possibility of not re-establishing inter-European tariffs. But immediate European free trade is útopian, for, anyhow, ex-enemy coun- tries will have to be* submitted, for a time, to such restrictions as will be de- cided by the United Nations. ANDRE ISTEL. New York, June 20, 1943.