Antigua – Barbuda is escalating its battle with the U.S.
Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda is escalating its battle with the U.S. over online gambling by trying to convince China and the European Union to support it bid to impose trade sanctions on Washington. A source close to the Antiguan government said China was likely to side with Antigua & Barbuda, in part as a retaliatory measure. The U.S. has frequently turned to the WTO to pressure China to live up to its trade commitments to honor U.S. patents, as well as music, movie, software, and other copyrights. The E.U. has also historically sided with small nations that have won trade rulings at the WTO. Antigua – Barbuda, home to the 44 online gambling licensees and 17 online gambling firms, filed complaints with the WTO, starting in 2003, that the U.S. ban on offshore online gambling casinos is protectionist. The WTO in April ruled the U.S. position on online gambling violated the General Agreement on Trades in Services (GATS) treaty (see The Return of Online Wagering?). The WTO said clamping down on  offshore Internet sites that accept bets from U.S gamblers amounted to protectionism because it is legal in the U.S. for gamblers to place bets at casinos, horse racing tracks and sports books. 
The U.S. then stunned the WTO and the Antiguan government by announcing it would no longer abide by the gambling services segment of the GATS treaty. This astounding and unprecedented action by the US opens up a whole new chapter in the WTO jurisprudence, which runs contrary to the object and purpose of the GATS, Antiguas minister of finance and the economy, Dr. Errol Cort, said in a statement. It also left Antigua with the unenviable task of imposing sanctions on the U.S. Sanctions imposed by Antigua, which has a population of 81,000, would have little effect on the U.S., unless it managed to enlist support from the most powerful nations within the 150 member WTO.