Commentary: Opportunity for trust between US and Caribbean
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| Published on Saturday, April 14, 2007 |
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By Sir Ronald Sanders
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government should put on the agenda for their meeting in June with US President George W Bush, US non-compliance with a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling in favour of Antigua and Barbuda.
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Sir Ronald Sanders is a business
executive and former Caribbean
diplomat who publishes widely
on small states in the global
community. Reponses to:
ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com |
In 2003, the small Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda won a landmark case against the US at the WTO when a Panel found that US domestic laws were not in conformity with it obligations under the General Agreement of Trade in Services by prohibiting the delivery of internet betting and gaming services into the US from Antigua.
Since then, the ruling in favour of Antigua and Barbuda’s was upheld at the appeal level, and, at the end of March, the Caribbean island obtained a WTO panel ruling that the US has not complied with its direction.
CARICOM Heads of Government have indicated their support for the merits of the case presented by Antigua and Barbuda against the United States in the WTO on cross border supply of services. In the communiqué of their 2005 Conference, they acknowledged that “the case had implications for the provision of services across borders by CARICOM Member States, and indeed all members of the WTO” and they expressed the view that “the case was a pioneering one and was instructive in many ways on how small states could defend their rights in the WTO”.
In light of the US non-compliance so far with the WTO ruling, CARICOM Heads of Government should seize the opportunity of the meeting with President Bush to raise directly with him the importance of US compliance not only in the interest of Antigua and Barbuda but because of the necessity to preserve the integrity of the dispute settlement process at the WTO.
Again, I declare an interest in this matter because I was Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the WTO when the case was filed and won in 2003.
It is instructive that the US government lodged complaints against China with the WTO on April 10th.
The two complaints, announced by Susan Schwab, the US Trade Representative, relate to allegations of piracy of American copyright goods and barriers to the Chinese market for entertainment and business products.
The Chinese have denied the US allegation on copyright stating that “the Chinese government has always been firm in protecting intellectual property”.
The US is facing a significant trade deficit of $765.3 billion in 2006 and its trade imbalance with China has climbed to $232.5 billion, the highest level recorded with a single country. Therefore, the action it is taking against China is designed to get redress for loss of government revenues, loss of income to US businesses and threats to US employment.
In every way, the losses that the US is protesting about to the WTO in relation to China are identical to the losses that Antigua and Barbuda complained about in relation to the US.
And, we can rest assured that if a WTO Panel finds in favour of the US, the US government will move swiftly to apply heavy tariffs on Chinese imports if China fails to comply with the Panel ruling.
The US government cannot have it both ways. It destroys its own credibility and weakens its own moral authority when it ignores its obligation to honour a WTO ruling in favour of little Antigua and Barbuda, but runs to the same WTO when it is unhappy with its trade relations with giant China.
Caribbean leaders might also indicate to President Bush that, by continuing to hurt Antigua and Barbuda through the US government’s failure to comply with the binding ruling of an international body, the US loses influence in a region where it is already concerned about the sway of others such as Venezuela and Cuba.
If the US continues not to comply, its action will be regarded throughout the region as nothing short of a demonstration of the power of big over small. It will re-enforce in the minds of many the allegation of US imperialism and push the Caribbean away from sympathy for US causes.
President Bush might also be advised that if the US ignores a WTO Panel ruling over a dispute with a Caribbean country, it calls into question the advisability of Caribbean countries entering a bilateral Free Trade Agreement with the US either bilaterally or through a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
For, if the US will not sincerely honour a WTO arbitration ruling, what guarantee is there that it won’t do the same in a bilateral or multilateral free trade agreement with the Caribbean? There is great need for the establishment of trust in any bargain, and the US now has a chance to show the Caribbean that on trade matters it will be faithful. | | | | Reads : 19 |
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