Bush Administration Ignores WTO Ruling over Antigua Gaming

The Bush Administration is refusing to comply with a recent WTO ruling. The WTO ruled that the United States is in violation of international law when it bans online gambling companies in Antigua from providing its services to U.S. players.

According to the WTO ruling, if a county allows its own native companies to provide a service to its citizens, it cannot bar companies of another country from providing the same service. This goes to the heart of free trade issues and protectionism.

A FREE TRADE ISSUE

Since the U.S. allows horse racing interests to run online wagers, it cannot ban online casinos in Antigua from taking U.S. players. If it does, the World Trade Organization says the United States is providing unfair protections for American gambling interests.

This fact wouldn't matter, except the U.S. signed a treaty some ten years ago saying we would engage in free trade. Being a member of the WTO implies the U.S. will abide by its rulings on international law.
A BAD PRECEDENT

If the U.S. doesn't respect WTO decisions, it is difficult to lecture countries like China when the WTO rules it is in violation of civil rights clauses of the WTO treaties. By ignoring court rulings, we lose the moral highground in dealing with other illegal actions.

According to the court ruling, which was the states' second legal loss to Antigua in the last few years, Antigua can pursue sanctions against the United States for its failure to abide by the decision.

GAMBLING ISN'T RECREATION

A Bush administration official claims that "confusion" has been caused by an oversight on the original treaty. This supposed oversight is that the administration believes online gambling is not a recreation, though it is covered in the WTO agreement as such. The U.S. wants to rewrite the treaty to stipulate that online gambling isn't classified as a recreation.

Basically, the Bush Administration refuses to discuss international law with foreign organizations. It wants to write a gambling law and then impose it on neighboring countries like Antigua.

Bush Administration Ignores WTO Ruling over Antigua Gaming