1. The Regulation of the Atlantic Trade – The Navigation Acts*)
The purpose of the Navigation acts:
England/Great Britain, was to be:
the exclusive beneficiary of the trade in the products of its colonies
the exclusive beneficiary of the trade in the supply of goods to its colonies
the exclusive beneficiary of the carrying trade of the colonies
*) De facto five acts from 1651, 1660, 1662, 1663, 1671, 1673 and 1696, but only three are important to remember. (1651, 1660 &1663).
What marked the development form the 1650s and onwards was a series of legislations that are known as the Navigation Acts.
The purpose of the Navigation acts were threefold,
) England, and after 1707 Great Britain, was to be the exclusive beneficiary of the trade in the products of its colonies (the selling of bit)
)England, and after 1707 Great Britain, was to be the exclusive beneficiary of the trade in the supply of goods to its colonies, (the selling to bit)
) England, and after 1707 Great Britain, was to be the exclusive beneficiary of the carrying trade of the colonies (the transport bit)
These acts was to maximise the profit of English merchants and the revenue from the colonies.
De facto five acts, Navigation Act 1651, 1660, 1662, 1663, 1670,1673, and 1696 but only three are important to remember. (1651, 1660 &1663), and 1773 a bit.

2. No foreign ships transporting goods from outside Europe to England
Navigation Ordinance 1651
No foreign ships transporting
goods from outside Europe to England
or its colonies, no third party’s country’s
ship to transport goods from a country elsewhere
in Europe to England (i.e. Dutch ships bringing Norwegian wood to England)
Navigation Ordinance 1651
Banned foreign ships from transporting goods from outside Europe to England or its colonies and
Banned third party countries' ships from transporting goods from a country elsewhere in Europe to England.
These rules specifically targeted the Dutch who controlled a large section of Europe's transnational trade and even much of England's coastal shipping.
The most important beneficiaries were the dominant London Merchants, who suffered most from the competition from the Dutch.

3. Still, Dutch ships could go to English colonies and
Navigation Ordinance 1651
Still, Dutch ships could go to English colonies and
bring back goods to Amsterdam
Still the act had holes,
the Dutch were not banned from going and trading in the colonies,
neither did it ban English ships from bringing stuff from elsewhere to the English colonies.
In other words, Dutch and English ships could go with tobacco and sugar from the West Indies and North America to London and Amsterdam.

4. And, English ships could bring stuff from e.g. the continent
Navigation Ordinance 1651
And, English ships could bring stuff from e.g. the continent
to the English colonies directly
And, English ships could bring stuff from e.g. the continent
to the English colonies directly

5. Navigation Acts of 1660
All trade in or out of any English Colony had to be carried on an “English ship” (i.e. a ship built in England, owned by Englishmen, and with ¾ of its crew from England).
The Navigation Acts 1660
All trade in or out of any English colony had to be carried on an English Ship,
built in England or its colonies,
owned by Englishmen, and
with a crews three-quarters English.

6. Navigation Acts of 1660
“Enumerated (colonial) goods”: specific colonial goods that to be brought to England first, before being sold off to e.g. the continent (e.g. ginger, sugar, tobacco, cotton, dye stuff, later one Molasses and rice and naval stores)
Moreover
"enumerated" products not produced by the mother country,
such as tobacco,
cotton, and
sugar
were to be shipped from the colonies only to England or other English colonies.
The list enumerated goods expanded over time
1660: sugar, tobacco, indigo, ginger, speckle wood, and various kinds of dyewoods
1704: rice and molasses
1705: naval stores, including tar, pitch, rosin (omitted in 1729), turpentine, hemp, masts, yards, and bowsprits;
1721; copper ore, beaver skins, and furs
1764: coffee, pimento, cacao, hides and skins, whale fins, raw silk, potash and pearl ash, iron, and lumber
: all other commodities
The 'enumerated commodities' (such as sugar, rice, and tobacco) had to be landed and tax paid before going on to other countries.
This increased the cost to the colonies, and
Increased the shipping time.
"England" here includes Wales, though it was little involved in trade to distant parts.
After the Act of Union 1707, Scotland enjoyed the same privileges.

7. Continental goods for English colonies had to go via England
Navigation Acts 1663
Continental goods for English colonies had to go via England
The Navigation Act 1663
Required all European goods bound for America (or other colonies) to be shipped through England first.
In England, the goods would be unloaded, inspected, paid duties, and finally reloaded.
The trade had to be carried in English bottoms (i.e. vessels), which included those of its colonies.
The Navigation Act 1673
Installed royal appointees as customs collectors in every port in the colonies