[pacman2]

I don't know about the Panama Canal, but the rest is true (mainly UK).

" ... transporting porcelain and whatever other goods China exported at the time."

China exported Silk, porcelain and tea like the is no tomorrow but did not buy anything. At one point China accumulated a huge part of the world silver reserves, sucking liquidity out of the western economy. Opium "solved" this problem.

It was my understanding that the Opium trade was mainly a GB thing. I was not aware that the US was involved.

[jazzyjackson]

You may be interested in this article, "How Profits From Opium Shaped 19th-Century Boston" [0]

> Perkins' ships deposited tremendous wealth in Boston too. Chests of tea, bolts of silk, crates of porcelain and cakes of opium -- which was legal in the U.S. -- were hauled off ships onto giant scales outside Boston’s Custom House. The goods were tallied and taxed in basements and warehouses around Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Tax revenue from the trade funded Massachusetts police and fire departments, roads, bridges, courthouses and schools.

[0] https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history

[simonh]

That wasn't a new problem, the Roman Empire was stripped of gold to pay for Chinese silks, to the point that several emperors made wearing silk illegal.