Tea was introduced into Britain as a luxury item, and the government naturally imposed heavy taxes, up to 20% of the value of the goods. Despite this high tax, the East India Company made a fortune from the tea trade. ij7tea.com
East India Company was just established, mainly for the trade of spices and pepper and other things, with the British tea consumer market is getting bigger and bigger, its main trade commodities then became tea. The East India Company monopolized the tea business, it provides the Chinese tea is not only the price is very high, in the quantity is far from meeting the needs of the British market. To the middle of the 18th century, nearly half of the tea consumed by the British public came from smuggling, from the Netherlands dumping tea, the price was very cheap at that time. ij7tea.com
So, with the gradual popularization of the tea drinking custom, in addition to the American tobacco and French brandy, the entire British coastline is busy smuggling Chinese tea. ij7tea.com