Antigua says it wants to recuperate losses it it incurred resulting from the US ban on online gambling

The Antiguan government is pressing for compensation because the US failed to comply with a WTO ruling that its Internet gambling restrictions are illegal.

The Americans have acknowledged that their online betting ban was ruled illegal by the world trade body.

But Washington is challenging Antigua's right to retaliate because it says it's in the process of changing the details of its obligations under the 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Demand labelled excessive

The US has also rejected the amount requested by Antigua as "patently excessive".

The WTO has set up an arbitration panel to rule on the matter.

US trade lawyer Juan Millan told the organisation's dispute settlement body that the amount sought by Antigua is "several times higher than the island's annual gross domestic product of all goods and services".

He said the Antiguan request for retaliation was "unnecessary" because the United States was negotiating compensation with all interested WTO members.

That's despite having originally argued that it was exempt from sanctions or having to pay compensation.

Others too want compensation

Antigua is the smallest country to successfully litigate a case in the World Trade Organisation's 12 year history.

The government in St Johns says it will target US trademarks and copyrights if Washington refuses to change its legislation.

The US made the unprecedented move to explicitly remove online betting from the WTO services agreement, after losing a ruling earlier this year.

Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Macao, Japan and the 27-nation European Union have all joined Antigua in filing compensation claims as a result.