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An Unbiased Look at the W.T.O. vs U.S. Debates: THE UNITED STATES

The U.S. did not release an immediate comment on the WTO’s ruling. Not long after, the official U.S. stance on the situation was that the current legislation restricting online casino transactions would stand as is. Once the WTO expressed concern that the U.S. was not in line with global trade agreements, the U.S. announced plans to revise the original agreement to specify that online casino gambling is not included in the trade agreements. The plan to withdraw online gambling and betting services would then effectively end Antigua’s issue they brought before the WTO.

Now many are judging these facts alone, but the U.S. did offer a reasoning as to why they are seeking to change the trade agreements without allowing for compensation. Juan Millan is the U.S. trade lawyer representing the U.S. at the WTO’s Geneva meeting, and he commented that the U.S. decided to alter the global trade agreements “in order to bring the United States into compliance and to resolve this dispute permanently. This modification will ensure...the original U.S. intent of excluding gambling from the scope of U.S. commitments.” Specifically the United States stresses that it plans to amend the trade agreements because they are unclear as currently written; the original trade agreement and talks associated with the 1994 trade agreement never explicitly stated that online casinos and internet gambling were included in the agreement. Now the U.S. merely wants to alter the agreement so that they reflect the actual intent of the trade agreement when written.

Thus, the U.S. points out that since it was never stated that the U.S. was obligated to allow global access to the U.S. online casino and betting industries, it should not owe damages to any country. The key to understanding where the U.S. government is coming from centers on the fact that the U.S. does not feel that the trade agreement ever covered online casinos and internet gambling—the steps they are taking now will merely clarify that point.