WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A World Trade Organization decision on the amount of retaliation that Antigua and Barbuda can impose on the United States in an Internet gambling trade dispute will not come out on Friday as expected, a U.S. trade official said.
"We understand the report has been delayed," said Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representatives office.
The tiny Caribbean nation has been in a long-running fight to offer its Internet gambling services in the United States. The case is being closely watched by European Internet gambling companies, which were pushed out of the U.S. market by Congress last year.
In an April 2005 victory for Antigua, the WTO said a U.S. law allowing only domestic companies to provide online horse-race gambling services discriminated against foreign firms.
Antigua, which built an online gambling industry to replace declining tourism revenues, has asked permission to impose 3.44 billion a year worth of "cross-retaliation" on the United States.
It wants the WTOs authorization to suspend copyright protections on American movies, music and software so its domestic manufacturers can export those products to the United States and potentially other markets.
The United States says Antigua is entitled to only 500,000 in damages in the dispute.
Mark Mendel, a private attorney representing Antigua, said he was told the WTO was putting the final touches on the report, which also needs to be translated.
"Theyll let us know on Monday precisely what day to expect it," Mendel said before meeting with House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, and other lawmakers to discuss the case.
Last year Congress tightened restrictions on Internet gambling by making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.
In addition, the Bush administration announced in May it was retroactively excluding gambling services from market-opening commitments it made as part of the 1994 world trade agreement.
That opened the door for the European Union, Japan, India and other trading partners to seek "compensation" from the United States in the form of increased access to another U.S. service market, such as insurance or air travel.
The deadline for finishing those WTO talks also was on Friday, but it appeared that would be extended as well.
(Editing by Xavier Briand)
