Last month, Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States, sought support in a speech before a meeting of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) in Geneva, Switzerland. He lamented that his country is “losing all hope” that its 15-year-long trade dispute with the United States will be amicably settled through private, bilateral negotiations. Sanders is, furthermore, considering asking the WTO’s head to mediate a solution.
In 2003, Antigua and Barbuda, a nation little larger than Washington DC, with a GDP barely exceeding US$1 billion, challenged the world’s foremost economic power before the WTO over the latter’s crackdown on American participation in offshore online gambling, an industry that had been a pillar of the island nation’s tiny economy. Washington has refused to comply with WTO rulings in Antigua’s favour or agree to a financial settlement. Antiguan officials had hoped that the catastrophic devastation the island nation suffered in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in September last year would compel Washington to change its position, but so far nothing has changed. As the Council on Hemispheric Affairs noted in a 2013 report, the United States “must exist in the brave new world it helped create.” The US handling of this dispute is inconsistent with the values that it champions, including moral leadership and the rule of law. Settling this dispute, particularly in the form of a humanitarian contribution would bode little cost for the US economy and provide desperately needed relief to those still suffering from Irma’s devastation. Keeping this trade rift alive not only harms the reputation of the United States but may also set the stage for larger trade disputes in the future.
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