The Non-Importation Act, passed by the United States Congress on April 18, 1806, forbade import of certain British goods in an attempt to coerce Britain to suspend its impressment of American sailors and to respect American sovereignty and neutrality. The Act was the first in a series of ineffective attempts of Congress and the administrations of President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to respond economically, instead of militarily, to these British actions and to other consequences of the Napoleonic Wars. The Act was part of the chain of events leading to the War of 1812.