why did northeastern cities develop as early center of "trade" for the colonies and then the united states

The northeastern cities developed as a trade centers for the colonies at first, and continued to be later for the United States because they are situated very well to be ports, the travel to Europe is closer from there, and also there were lot of goods that were demanded in Europe and were in abundance in this part.

Initially, the northeastern cities were providing a lot of fur for the European market, and the fur was highly demanded, appreciated, and highly paid, so there were multiple ports built in this part for trade. Also, a key factor was that from this part of the United States, the travel towards Europe is both, closer and easier, unlike the southeastern part where in certain periods of the year there are very strong devastating storms, and also lots of islands which make the navigation more difficult.