Navigation Laws and Salutary Neglect This is connected to grievance 16. The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed to regulate trade and enable taxation in the colonies. They restricted colonial trade with countries other than Great Britain. However, these laws were difficult to uphold, and hoping to stimulate trade, Parliament relaxed enforcement of them, a policy known as salutary neglect. Motivated by a mercantilist ideology, the British wished to maximize exports and minimize imports. By forcing the colonists to trade only with them, the British hoped to accomplish this and attain as much wealth as possible. Additionally, in many ways, these policies benefited the colonists. Certain colonial products, like Virginian tobacco, were