Antigua & Barbuda has apparently run out of patience in a longstanding trade dispute with the United States over online gaming and is threatening to act if a settlement is not reached by the end of the year.
The island nation has been in dispute with the U.S. ever since their larger neighbor blocked U.S. players from using online gambling sites based in the country. Antigua brought the matter to the World Trade Organization in 2007, which ruled that Antigua could suspend up to $21 million annually in intellectual property concessions to the U.S. under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
However, Antigua has been reluctant to make the move and has been seeking a settlement. The country maintains that the U.S. has not been making a good faith effort to settle the dispute.
Last month, Antigua representatives appeared at the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body and essentially delivered an ultimatum.
The U.S. issued a statement saying that it “remains committed to resolving this matter.”
The WTO found that the U.S. violated its market access commitments in General Agreement on Trade in Services by banning online gambling and permitted Antigua to seek restitution.
The U.S. withdrew its gambling concessions under GATS, but was required to offer compensation to member countries affected by the online ban. The U.S. offered such concessions to Japan and the European Union, but has not reached a settlement with Antigua.
Antigua has said that the U.S. has never made a settlement offer that “would even remotely compensate for the harm that has been done to our economy and continues to impact it negatively.”
The country estimates that the U.S. ban has cost the country’s gambling industry about $250 million in online revenue.
