Business
Antigua & Barbuda: Prime Minister Gaston Browne holds talks with US in bid to resolve ongoing trade dispute
Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has held talks with senior United States officials in a move aimed at ending their long standing Internet gaming dispute.
The meeting followed Browne’s criticism of Washington during his address to the United nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week.
A statement by the Antigua & Barbuda government stated that Prime Minister Browne met US Trade Representative, Michael Froman, late last week “where both men sat down to open dialogue about the stalled trade dispute and discussed practical ways in which the matter could be brought to a conclusion”.
“Both sides agreed to put a team together to work out the details of their discussion, and Browne undertook to name his team within a week,” the statement said.
In his meeting with Froman, Prime Minister Browne outlined the economic losses suffered by Antigua & Barbuda as a result of US non-compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling, according to the statement. It said both parties are expected to resume discussions in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, Antigua & Barbuda said it was seeking US$100 million to settle the dispute. Prime Minister Browne told a news conference then that while the figure represents a reduction on what the twin-island nation had originally been demanding, it is negotiable and could be a mixture of cash and kind.
Antigua & Barbuda has submitted new proposals to Washington to end the dispute.
In 2005, the WTO ruled that the United States had violated international trade agreements by prohibiting operation of offshore Internet gambling sites. Antigua & Barbuda claimed that it lost US$3.4 billion a year due to the action, but the WTO awarded the twin island-nation US$21 million.
But in its final ruling, the Geneva-based WTO has allowed Antigua & Barbuda to suspend certain concessions and obligations it has under international law to the United States in respect of intellectual property rights. -(CMC)