Sugar+Act

=// Sugar Act //=

=== Why? The previous act that targeted molasses trade, the Molasses Act, did not successfully impose a tax on molasses. Instead, colonists began to participate in smuggling and bribery to avoid the tax. The Sugar Act was intended to stop this illegal activity.===

=== What? The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon, while Grenville (First Lord of the Treasury) took measures that the duty be strictly enforced. More specifically, Grenville permitted seizures of ships and increased the amount of necessary paperwork required of ship captains. On addition, the act made it profitable for customs officers to hound merchants. Other foreign goods were also to be taxed: sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric and printed calico. The Sugar Act also regulated the export of lumber and iron.===

=== Result: The enforced tax on molasses caused the almost immediate decline in the rum industry in the colonies.This situation disrupted the colonial economy by reducing the markets to which the colonies could sell. It also limited the amount of currency available to them for the purchase of British manufactured goods.===