Antigua Asking for $3.4 billion in Commercial Sanctions

The small Caribbean country Antigua, are looking to the US for $3.4 billion in commercial sanctions. This is brought on by the United States failure to follow a ruling on its online betting ban. Antigua has been using electronic commerce as a way of fueling their economy instead of relying on tourism. The small country generates a yearly revenue in the hundreds of millions from their 32 licensed online casinos and employs 1,000 people.

The United States has stated in a submission to the World Trade Organization that the money Antigua is asking for is unfounded. They believe that the $3.4 billion is nearly four times Antigua's entire gross domestic product and that it does not reflect the country's economy. Antigua believes the World Trade Organization will side with them on the subject.

"That's the typical position the U.S. has taken to Antigua in this case, but we've proven them wrong in every instance,"We feel very confident that it will be quite easy to demonstrate that." "It's completely without any basis whatsoever," stated Mark Mendal the lawyer for Antigua.

Last year Washington ruled that United States credit card companies and banks could not process payments to online gambling businesses outside the country. The WTO agreed with the US right to prevent offshore betting but stated it was illegal to focus on online gambling without also focusing on US operators of offshore betting on horse and dog racing. Washington has since stated that they intend to remove Internet Gambling from their obligations to the WTO's treaty on trade in services. Since this statement, many other nations have filed similar suits against the United States.