28
Thu, Mar

Antigua-U.S. Standoff Continues

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The island country of Antigua and Barbuda is one of the largest and most popular locations for offshore Internet gambling. Ever since the U.S. has banned online gambling the internet poker rooms operating from Antigua have been suffering huge losses.

Antigua had gone to the WTO against the discriminatory trade practices adopted by the U.S. and had received a judgment in their favor. However the Bush Administration refused to implement the judgment. In an attempt to settle the matter amicably Antigua had decided to negotiate with the U.S. and had set a deadline of June 6, 2008 for the fructification of the talks.

The June 6 deadline has come and gone and there has been no settlement. Now Antigua has no choice to go back to the WTO to try and get them to force the U.S. to implement their order. Given the U.S.’s clout in the WTO this will be a tall ask.