The Sugar Act was mainly about the manufacture of rum which was a highly lucrative product. Rum is made from molasses, a by-product of sugar production. Some sugarcane was grown on sugar plantations in the colonies but the majority was imported from the West Indies. The background to the Sugar Act dates to one of the series of Navigation Acts. The Navigation Act of 1733, also known as the Molasses Act, levied heavy taxes on sugar from the West Indies to the American colonies in an attempt to force colonists to purchase the more costly sugar from Britain. The Molasses Act of 1733 was never fully enforced because of the British policy of Salutary Neglect, which basically allowed British officials to turn a 'blind eye' to trade violations.