Victoria 3 Customs Union Full Guide

Customs Union in Victoria 3 is the most peaceful way to enrich your economy in the game!

It’s a great new feature added to the game involving two or more countries, and can actually generate profit for all countries associated! Sounds great, doesn’t it?!

Well, before you start making moves though, it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself into. You don’t want to be halfway done with the process and then regret it because you chose the wrong country!

Victoria 3 Customs Union Guide

The developers have given their best to keep the Customs Union feature in the game as realistic as possible.

In Victoria 3, if you form a Customs Union with another nation, it would mean that you’ll be sharing the main market of your country with that nation in the union, after they accept your proposal.

This diplomatic move can be spread through multiple nations and is not limited to only the first two nations.

The nation that controls the market is known as the Senior partner (which will be your nation), while the others taking part in the market are the Junior partners.

All the resources and goods produced by the Junior partners will have to be sold and traded in the new National Market controlled by the Senior partner. Other trades that the Junior partners may have had will also have to be diminished.

The Customs Union is basically an economic agreement between nations, where they share a common market, which ultimately leads to the economic and financial betterment of all countries involved.

Apart from that, there’s also enrichment when it comes to culture and relationship with the Junior partners, eventually forming allies.

Moreover, Customs Union can be forcefully formed with a country that owes you, giving you the opportunity to share its resources.

Advantages of Customs Union

The first point that comes to mind is the increase of goods and services that will be available. Since you’ll be sharing a national market with another country, the amount of goods from both countries will be available for the people.

Things that aren’t available in your country can easily be obtained from the Junior partners and used for your required purposes. This can be a huge boost for your economy and bring more financial stability.

Since more goods are available through the National Market now, trading expenses and additional micro transactions are reduced. The money saved in this section can then be invested in other useful sectors of your nation.

The relationship with the Junior partners in the Customs Union is strengthened as well, which can be beneficial in the long run.

But, you could do all that just by conquering the junior nation, right? You’d have all of its resources, army, and land anyway! What’s the need for a Customs Union?

Through Customs Union, you can peacefully achieve what you want, without any bloodshed or massacre. War itself brings a lot costs and increases tension between other countries as well.

You don’t create any enemies, you improve your relationships with other nations, and you get the goods that you need. Isn’t that way better?!

Are you eager to form your first Customs Union now? Let me stop you right there!

It’s not possible to make such a relationship with just any state or country. There are various conditions that come to play.

Conditions for Customs Union

All the nation’s policies on Trade should allow them to partake in Customs Union. Not all countries will have the permission or eligibility to be a part of the Customs Union, so that’s the first aspect to keep in your head.

Secondly, the two nations forming the Customs Union initially should not have a hostile relationship with each other. Both should have at least a neutral connection in order to enable the formation of the Customs Union.

This makes sense, since you’d basically be taking resources from the other nation in the Customs Union; and, if the relationship is poor, the union will just be more chaotic rather than helpful.

Furthermore, a key aspect that decides whether a Custom Union proposal will go through or not, is the economic and financial statistics of the Senior partner.

The AI will take into account the GDP levels of your country and the differences in Ideology into account. Furthermore, along with the Base Value, the relationship and infamy count also play a part in the formation of a successful Customs Union.

Wrapping Up

I’ll always encourage you to opt for Customs Union as long as there isn’t hostility with the country in question.

Customs Union is a relatively economical approach for obtaining the resources that you need. If you’re looking to gain more knowledge on the game’s various aspects, you can check out our comparisons on the Subject Pacts, like Dominion, Puppet, and Protectorate!

Victoria 3 is a heavily based on strategies and plans, so make sure you’re thinking two steps ahead before making a move! Good luck!

For the aid of the reader, some screenshots in this article were taken from the Dev Diary in Paradox Forums.