11-10-2007 US decision to withdraw gambling from WTO commitments is a major threat to international trading

While the dispute between Antigua and the United States appears to be heading for arbitration, panelists at a Brussels forum held by European think tank, The Centre for the New Europe, criticized the US Government for abandoning its commitments to the WTO over the gambling industry. A decision that threatens the credibility of the WTO itself and that could lead to a chain reaction of similar withdrawals by other WTO members.

"If more countries follow the U.S. lead and do the same thing, the entire W.T.O. system could implode and that would be extremely dangerous for U.S. economic interests and for free trade generally," said trade specialist Nao Matsukata.

"Part of what makes the U.S. such a formidable opponent in international negotiations is its credibility," added Matsukata. "That credibility is now at stake for the U.S. government not just in the trade area but in foreign relations generally."

"The W.T.O. has worked largely to the advantage of the U.S.," said Sallie James of the Cato Institute. "Any action the U.S. takes to undermine the integrity of the system is extremely dangerous to U.S. economic interests and to free trade generally."

Lode Van Den Hende, a trade lawyer at Herbert Smith in Brussels, criticized the United States for prosecuting foreign online gambling companies while letting domestic online gambling interests operate with impunity.
"This is absolute discrimination against foreign operators that the W.T.O. has found to be illegal," he said. "It is exactly the kind of practice that the W.T.O. was set up to eliminate, and now the U.S. is violating this very basic principle that it fought hard to put in place at the inception of the organization."