US Could Offer Concessions to Resolve Long-Standing Gaming Dispute with Antigua and Barbuda

The United States could eventually offer concessions to Antigua and Barbuda in a bid to resolve the long-standing gaming dispute.

US Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda Roger Nyhus is highly confident that a resolution could be reached, hinting that the deal might involve more than just financial compensation.

“Well, I feel that there’s momentum. Um we, you know, I’ve been in personal conversations with Prime Minister Browne on this very topic. We talked about it at SIDS. I do believe that um there is a path forward. Um you know, it may not involve a lot of cash um but it could certainly involve you know, important um concessions that uh that Antigua and Barbuda wants and needs for its people. So, I’m optimistic about it. I don’t, you know, we, you know, until it’s done, it’s not done but I think that we have made progress this year,” he said.

While Ambassador Nyhus is hopeful, HE was tight-lipped about the specifics of these concessions.

“I really can’t speak to that at this stage. It’s really, I think between the prime minister’s office and working with our trade offices in DC. We’re working on that. They’ll be working together. We will be nudging it along from the embassy standpoint but we’re hopeful that we can find a resolution in the near term.”

He was also careful not to note a timeline.

“I think near can be this big or this big. So, I would say let’s see. It’s somewhere in there. We don’t know. You know, I think it’s ultimately up to the two parties. So, I can’t anticipate what that would be,” Nyhus said.

Antigua and Barbuda had developed an internet gambling industry to replace declining tourism revenues, but it found itself shut out of the world’s largest gambling market.

In 2003, Antigua and Barbuda took the matter to the WTO and eventually won the right to compensation of US$21 million annually after the organization’s judges upheld its complaint that US laws were discriminatory.

However, the US government has not paid out the compensation, which has caused Antigua and Barbuda to suffer significant economic losses.

The dispute between the two countries is considered a test case for WTO members who want to determine whether the dispute settlement system can provide practical and timely benefits for small and vulnerable economies.