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# Free Ports

## Definition

Designated port cities where goods can be imported and exported with minimal or no customs duties, allowing for unrestricted international trade within those specific locations while maintaining restrictions elsewhere in the country.

## Source Chapter

Book IV, Chapter 3

## Context

Smith notes that while some European towns function as free ports, no entire country adopts this approach, despite evidence that free trade enriches rather than ruins trading communities.

## Economic Domain

Exchange

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