In a town meeting in Boston, merchants and traders agreed to boycott goods that were subject to England’s Townshend Revenue Act until the duties (taxes) imposed on those goods were repealed. Some critical supplies, such as salt, hemp, and duck, were exempt from the boycott. Some sixty merchants signed the Boston Non-Importation Agreement on August 1, 1768, and within two weeks, all but sixteen of Boston’s shopkeepers, traders, and merchants had joined the effort. Tradesmen and craftsmen soon joined the cause, since the protest would encourage their business. Within weeks and months, most of the major cities and many of the colonies subscribed to the non-importation movement. As in other areas, Boston led the way in fomenting opposition and protest to Parliament’s taxing measures.