WTO Sides with Greater Competition

The battlefield is little Antigua in the Caribbean. The US wants its laws regarding online betting, specifically horse racing bets, to apply internationally. This way it can allow such bets only in country, and not as run at gambling sites located elsewhere around the world. Now that the WTO has sided with Antigua, it is likely that the European Union will also challenge the US ban on its own gambling industry, banned from the North American country. The case, it should be noted, is not yet concluded. A final ruling will be made in a matter of weeks and then too the US will have the right to appeal.

The WTO's interest in the issue is not gambling per se, but rather the protectionist policy preventing full market access to all websites equally. The US commitment to the WTO treaties is binding both ways and in all markets, exposing it as unfair in its dealing with online casinos. At the moment no implications are in place, but the decision could lead to Antigua being allowed to take retaliatory measures against the US government in the form of higher tariffs on imports. This however seems ineffectual considering Antigua's size compared to the US. But if the EU will indeed follow suit, then the stakes of the game will rise much higher for all involved.