Antigua and Barbuda has told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the United States must address the gambling dispute with St Johns immediately, as the matter has been dragged on for almost two decades.
Antigua and Barbuda had developed an internet gambling industry to replace declining tourism revenues, but it found itself shut out of the world’s largest gambling market.
In 2003, Antigua and Barbuda took the matter to the WTO and eventually won the right to compensation of US$21 million annually after the organization’s judges upheld its complaint that US laws were discriminatory.
However, the US government has not paid out the compensation, which has caused Antigua and Barbuda to suffer significant economic losses.
