How could the English laws that restricted colonial trade be described?

The English laws that restricted colonial trade in the 17th and 18th centuries can be described as the Navigation Acts. These were a series of laws that were designed to regulate trade between England and its colonies. The main objectives of the Navigation Acts were to promote the self-sufficiency of the British Empire and to minimize competition from other European nations, particularly from the Dutch, who were well-known maritime traders at the time.

The Navigation Acts had several key provisions:

1. Certain valuable goods such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton (known as enumerated commodities) could only be transported to England or English colonies.

2. All goods shipped to and from the colonies had to be carried on English or colonial ships, which needed to be manned primarily by English or colonial crews.

3. All trade between the colonies and Europe had to pass through English ports first, where duties could be collected, effectively giving England a monopoly on taxing colonial trade.

4. The Acts encouraged the development of some industries in the colonies but restricted others to prevent competition with English manufacturers.

These laws were meant to ensure that the colonies remained economically dependent on England and also to guarantee that England benefited from the colonies' wealth. However, they were met with resistance and resentment by colonial businesses and were one of the many factors leading to the American Revolutionary War.