The WTO has now found the US has not tried hard enough to stick to its rules.

Reuters has reported WTO found the US guilty of not complying with a 2005 order.

Antigua and Barbuda has built up a significant internet gambling industry to replace falling tourist revenue and took the US to the WTO over entry to the US gaming market.

Laws passed previously banned non-US companies from operating in the US gaming market. Antigua argued that this was an illegal trade restriction and broke a free trade pact that the US had signed.

The WTO has provided both sides with a preliminary report on its findings. Both parties can submit further comments to it before a final report is published in March.

A spokesperson for the US Trade Representative told Reuters that the ruling was only a minor issue. "[We] did not agree with the United States that we had taken the necessary steps to comply with that ruling," she said. "The panel's findings issued today involve a narrow issue of federal law."