tap into ...

[pars]

Dear all:
What is the meaning of the words in bold in the following passage? It is from the book The East India Company in Persia by Peter Good, p. 90.

By the 1680s the Company circumnavigated this hole in their revenues by permitting their servants to trade on their own accounts, as long as this trade took place only between Asian ports. 95 By doing this, the Company was able to not only eliminate the value of interlopers to its servants but also tap into the private country trade itself.

It seemingly means the Company could benefit from the private trade in Persia, but I'm not sure, because I did not find "private country trade" as "private trade of the country". It is an strange compound.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Barque]

"Tap into" means, roughly, "take advantage of" or "use".

There isn't enough context to say what "private country trade" means exactly, here.

I'd imagine it means private trades within the country (not international and not involving a governmental authority, but this is just a guess).

 

[5jj]

tap into
: to make a strong or advantageous connection with
trying to tap into a new market

Definition of TAP INTO

to strike lightly especially with a slight sound; to give a light blow with; to bring about by repeated light blows… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com