Customs, etc. Act 1765

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Customs, etc. Act 1765
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of Great Britain (1714-1801).svg
Long title An Act for more effectually securing and encouraging the Trade of His Majesty's American Dominions; for repealing the Inland Duty on Coffee, imposed by an Act made in the Thirty-second Year of His late Majesty King George the Second, and for granting an Inland Duty on all Coffee imported (except Coffee of the Growth of the British Dominions in America); for altering the Bounties and Drawbacks upon Sugars exported; for repealing Part of an Act made in the Twenty-third Year of His said late Majesty, whereby Bar Iron made in the said Dominions was prohibited to be exported from Great Britain or carried coastwise; and for regulating the Fees of the Officers of the Customs in the said Dominions.
Citation 5 Geo. 3. c. 45
Territorial extent 
Dates
Royal assent 25 May 1765
Repealed5 July 1825
Other legislation
Repealed by Customs Law Repeal Act 1825 (6 Geo. 4. c. 105)
Relates to
Status: Repealed

The act 5 Geo. 3. c. 45, sometimes called the Customs, etc. Act 1765, [1] the Customs Act, [2] the Duties Act, [3] or the American Act, [4] was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. This Act aimed to encourage imports to Great Britain from its American dominions, under the system of Trade and Navigation Acts. The Act encouraged the import of timber products; repealed the inland duty on coffee, imposed in 1758; imposed an inland duty on all coffee imported from foreign sources; altered the existing bounties and drawbacks on sugar exports; repealed part of the Iron Act, which prohibited bar iron made in the colonies from being exported from Great Britain, or carried along its coast; and regulated the fees of the customs officers in the colonies. [5]

Specifically mentioned in the preamble were "deals, planks, boards and timbers" for so that the "Royal Navy... may be furnished with such materials at more reasonable rates, and great sums of money at present expended among foreign nations, for the purchase of such materials, may be saved." The Act goes on to enumerate the several sums payable as reward or premium directly to the merchants.

The encouragement of the coffee trade with the American dominions was in the act similarly promoted. From section 14 to section 18 the Act promoted the sugar trade; between section 19 and 21 the rice trade; sections 22 and 23 promoted the iron trade.

This act was repealed by section 117 of the Customs Law Repeal Act 1825.

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References

  1. Current Law Statutes 1995, vol 4, p 48
  2. Rob Merkin. Marine Insurance: A Legal History. Edward Elgar. 2021. Volumes 1 and 2. p cxxxvii.
  3. Paul Langford (general editor). The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1981. Volume 2. p 187.
  4. John Reeves. The Law of Shipping and Navigation. Second Edition. London. 1807. Index, Statutes.
  5. London - C. Eyre and W. Strahan: A collection of all the statutes now in force : relating to the revenue and officers of the customs in Great Britain and the plantations, p.1208 (1780)