An Act for granting to Her Majesty, until the Fifth Day of September One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, certain Duties on Sugar imported into the United Kingdom.
With no cheap labour force and no preferential tariff protection, the plantation-owners in the British West Indies could not compete with Cuba and Brazil, where sugar was still produced using slave labour. The rise of European sugar beet as a cheap alternative to sugarcane further worsened their position. Plantation owners in the West Indies felt betrayed by the legislation,[citation needed] as they had understood that the tariff protection would remain in place as a quid pro quo for their agreement to the abolition of slavery eight years earlier.
The trade liberalization resulted in considerable consumption gains for British consumers and a reduced deadweight loss.[1]
