Trading
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Overview
The trade system is an important part of the economy in EU3. Trade is based on the goods created from the production of provinces, and is accessed through the use of merchants who operate at centers of trade. This page will provide a reference overview detailing exactly how the trading system works. For advice on how to create a successful economy, see the Economic strategy guide.
Center of Trade
A Center of Trade (CoT) is a major trading hub for surrounding provinces. The trade goods from these provinces go through the CoT, and merchants there profit from it. Use the Trade Mapmode (lower right corner of screen) to see all provinces that contribute to a particular CoT, or hover your mouse over the "Total value of trade" in the CoT window to see the production income from these provinces.
Owning CoTs has several advantages:
- Added Tax value in CoT province:
- Population growth bonus in CoT province:
- Every merchant that operates in a CoT pays the nation owning that CoT 3 ducats per year. That appears as Harbor Fees in the budget window.
- Merchant bonus, 0.5 merchants yearly per CoT.
- (IN only) Coastal CoTs provide 0.10 colonist bonus/year.
Beginning in NA, it is possible for nations to create their own CoTs, pending the following requirements for the province where a new CoT is desired:
- The province must not be trading to a CoT that you own.
- The foreign CoT the province is trading to must be worth more that 300 ducats.
- A CoT costs 500 ducats to build.
A CoT can also be destroyed. The CoT must have a total value of less than 300 ducats and destroying it costs ducats and prestige.
Level of CoT
With IN only, every CoT has a level determined by its total trade value, 1 level for each 100 ducats of value. This level affects the following CoT effects:
- Added tax value
- Manpower
- Population growth
Monopoly
Any nation with level 15 of Trade tech (level 7 in EU3 & NA) will be allowed to create monopolies in centers of trade. Essentially, a sixth merchant must be successfully sent to a CoT to create a monopoly. Arriving merchants do not compete with each other anymore. Everybody arriving to the CoT is targets the merchants of the monopoly holder to try to end the monopoly. Maintaining a monopoly generally requires:
- High trading technology
- High prestige
- Good reputation
The benefits of a monopoly:
- Receive 20% more revenue than you would with 5 merchants, so that a monopoly counts as 6 merchants for income purposes.
- Receive the appropriate income for all empty slots in the CoT, as though you had merchants in those, too. This can be quite a lot.
- Receive 1 extra merchant yearly for each monopoly you hold.
The drawback is that, when a monopoly is achieved, any other realms trying to place merchants in that COT will, by definition, be competing against your own merchants for a spot. So sometimes monopolies can end up being costly if you constantly have to fight for them (especially if the auto-send feature is on).
Merchants
While owned CoTs provide any nation a passive form of income from trade, the use of merchants is necessary to take full advantage of the trading system. Merchants that are able to both secure a position in a CoT and hold it for a long time will make a significant amount of money. Success in either endeavor depends on the relative competitiveness of merchants, which is divided into two parts: the chance to out-compete another merchant, and the chance to place a merchant when there is an empty slot. Beginning with NA, it is possible to auto-send merchants.
Merchant Placement Chance
A CoT has 20 slots for merchants, before it gets full. When the CoT gets full, new merchants must open a new slot by competing an existing one out of the CoT. Once an empty slot is available the chance that the arriving merchant will fill it is the sum of these modifiers:
- Base chance: 35% placement chance
- Stability: -15% to 15% placement chance
- Prestige rank: -10% to 10% placement chance
- Monarch Administrative skill: +3% placement chance for each skill level (3% to 18%)
- Trade Efficiency: bonus equal to TE divided by 2
- Aristocracy/Plutocracy domestic policy: +4% placement chance for every notch right of the center (towards plutocracy)
- Mercantilism/Free Trade domestic policy: (IN only) +10% placement chance in owned CoTs for every notch left (towards mercantilism) of the center (+50% to 0%)
- Several events add or subtract to merchant placement chance.
Merchant Compete Chance
Upon arrival to a full CoT a merchant must first compete against a random foreign merchant for a slot. The base success chance is 50% and to that are added several modifiers (shown below) that apply to the new merchant and subtracted the modifiers that apply to the foreign merchant (except the base 50% of course). If they are equal, the chance will be the base 50%. If the new merchant is successful at competing, the foreign merchant is thrown out of a CoT and an empty CoT slot is available. Then the placement chance of the new merchant will determine whether they will actually manage to get in that newly opened slot.
- Base: 50% compete chance (only applies to arriving merchant)
- Stability: -3% to 3% compete chance
- Monarch Administrative skill: +1% compete chance for each skill level (%1 to 9%)
- Trade Efficiency: bonus equal to TE divided by 2
- Prestige: -15% to +15% compete chance
- Badboy score (a.k.a. reputation): -1% competitiveness in foreign CoTs for each BB point
- (EU3 before v1.3) Owning a CoT with non-accepted culture: -15% competitiveness in foreign CoTs for each such CoT
- (EU3 v1.3, NA & IN) Owning a non-core CoT: -15% competitiveness in foreign CoTs for each such CoT
- Lucky AI nations: +10% compete chance
- Trader advisor: +2% compete chance per advisor level
- Shrewd Commerce Practice national idea: +10% compete chance
- Mercantilism/Free Trade domestic policy:
- (IN only) Penalty to compete chance for each merchant placed: -0.5% compete chance for each placed merchant globally
- Several events add or subtract to merchant compete chance
Number of Merchants
The number of merchants a nation receives per year is determined by the following factors:
- Base: +2 merchants yearly
- Stability: -3 to +3 merchants yearly
- Aristocracy/Plutocracy domestic policy: +0.2 for every notch right of the center (towards plutocracy)
- Mercantilism/Free Trade domestic policy: +0.4 for every notch right of the center (towards free trade)
- Owning CoTs: +1 for each CoT that you own. The bonus is +0.5 for IN
- Merchant Adventures national idea: +1 merchant yearly (EU3 & NA only).
- Having a monopoly: +1 merchant yearly for each monopoly
- Being at war: -1 merchant yearly
- Several events add or subtract yearly merchants
Trade Efficiency
Trade Efficiency (a.k.a. TE) is the measure of how effectively a government is able to "tax" merchant income. When viewing any CoT, you can see your merchants' share of the total trade. Trade efficiency determines the percentage of the total trade that a nation receives as monthly income. For example, a nation with merchants that are earning 80 ducats, will only receive 24 ducats if trade efficiency is 30%. Every percent of trade efficiency increases merchant placement chance and compete chance by 0.5%. There are several modifiers to trade efficiency:
- Trade tech level: +1% per level
- Aristocracy/Plutocracy domestic policy: +1% for each notch to the right (towards plutocracy) of the center (0% to +5%)
- (EU3 & NA) Land/Naval domestic policy: how much?
- (IN only) Mercantilism/Free Trade domestic policy: +2% for each notch to the right (towards free trade) of the center (0% to +10%)
- National Trade Policy national idea: +10%
- Government type:
- +10% for Administrative Republic
- +10% for Tribal Federation
- State religion: +10% for Reformed
- Refusing trade diplomatic action: -3% penalty for each
- Trade agreement diplomatic action -2% penalty for each
