Canton System

The Canton System is a historic case of trade controlled through a single port and licensed intermediaries, a structure that still echoes in customs rules and trusted trader programs. Western merchants could trade only at Guangzhou, through the Cohong guild, and they lived and kept goods at the Thirteen Factories along the river. The system ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanking after the First Opium War, which opened more treaty ports and ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain. Importers today still work through designated ports of entry, licensed customs brokers, and government programs that decide which partners move goods fastest.

• Customs BrokerLicensed filer of US customs entries
• Port of EntryWhere imports clear US customs
• Customs Trade Partnership Against TerrorismCTPATCBP security program with fewer inspections

• English East India Company1600–1874 · A chartered company trades with Asia, then rules India
• Founding of Singapore as a Free Port1819 · Raffles sets up a duty-free port open to all ships
• China's Reform and Opening-Up1978 · China turns toward markets and foreign trade

• Treaty of Nanking1842 · Opium War treaty that opened China's treaty ports

1. Canton system britannica.com
2. Canton System en.wikipedia.org
3. Thirteen Factories en.wikipedia.org