However, most non-British imports, whether from Europe or Asia, first had to be shipped through Britain. About 20 percent of the colonies’ imports from Britain consisted of foreign goods that originally came from Asia, mainly tea and pepper, or from Europe. This artificial routing through Britain involved extra fees, commissions, warehouse rents, and transportation costs and is estimated to have raised the costs of imports of European and Asian goods by about 20 percent.8
Extra fees by middlemen has a long history
