How to Establish a Trade Route in Civilization 7

Establishing trade routes with other nations is the best way to grow your economy in Civilization 7. You’ll gain access to resources that aren’t available in your civilization and reap the rewards of that.

However, you’ll have to complete several steps before you can set up your trade routes. Apart from that, when you reach a new era, these trade routes also “reset,” which can be annoying.

So here’s how to set up a trade route in Civilization 7.

How to Train Merchants in Civilization 7

Before you can set up a trade route, you’ll need to produce Merchants first. The Merchants are the people who establish the Trade Route between settlements. To unlock the Merchant, research tech nodes in the tech tree.

In the Antiquity Era, you’ll have to research the Code of Laws, which requires you to research Mysticism and Discipline. Once those are finished, you’ll see the Merchant in your production tab in any town, city, or capital. Produce one, and you’ll have the Merchant unit.

However, when you reach different eras, you might notice that you cannot produce any more Merchants. This is because they are locked again behind another node in the Civic tree, like the “Code of Laws” in the Antiquity Era. For the Exploration Era, you’ll need to get the Economics Civic. In the Modern Era, you’ll need the Steam Engine from the tech tree.

It is a pain to lose the ability to establish trade routes constantly, but for now, it’s part of the game.

Related: Complete Controls Guide for Civilization 7 – All Shortcuts and Keybinds

How to Create a Trade Route in Civilization 7

Before using the Merchant, you must establish a good reputation or relationship with other leaders. You can see your relationship with each leader in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Each leader will have an icon. It could be a skull or swords when you are at war or you dislike each other. It could also be a thumbs-up icon if you have a positive relationship. It could also be a heart icon if you have an alliance or more.

You only need a thumbs-up icon on the leader to establish a trade route. Once your Merchant is ready, you’ll see a UI pop-up with “Possible Trade Routes” when you select it. You can’t interact or press any of the routes available (one of the reasons why the players hate the UI so much), and you can only read them. You must find the settlement and move your Merchant to the city.

Once your Merchant is in the city, you’ll see a command on the lower-right corner called “make Trade Route.” Select the action, and it should establish the trade route. Setting up a trade route is easy as long as you have a Merchant, but there’s a limit to how many trade routes you can do.

I suggest improving relationships with leaders with access to unique and useful resources, preferably resources that help you achieve your win condition.

How to Add More Trade Routes in Civilization 7

To add more trade routes, you must sign a treaty called “Improve Trade Relations” with another leader. The option is only available if you are friendly with another leader. Its duration depends on the info in the tooltip.

Signing treaties costs Influence, and an Improved Trade Relations treaty costs 100 Influence. This can be costly, but if you are befriending just one or two leaders, you can likely afford it. You’ll certainly want to have some Influence left over for emergencies, however. For example, if you need to increase Happiness because your town is revolting, you can use Influence to create local festivals.