http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/disp1_e.htm
If after 20 days, no satisfactory compensation is agreed, the complaining side may ask the Dispute Settlement Body for permission to impose limited trade sanctions (“suspend concessions or obligations”) against the other side. The Dispute Settlement Body must grant this authorization within 30 days of the expiry of the “reasonable period of time” unless there is a consensus against the request.
I am not going to quote the rest of the rules, they can be seen on the website. All these countires http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/org6_e.htm have to decide on this issue.
I am also not going to quote the timetable, according to which the US is in most serious default.
The basic idea is this:
You have an apple tree, and you take your apples to town to sell and make a living.
Your neighbor has a different variety of apples and the two of you are in competition.
All town citizens use a public road to transport their goods. Everyone in town has agreed to share this road with all other citizens.
Your neighbor constructs a barrier that keeps you from getting to town, so your apples rot and you starve.
You complain to the town council. The council rules that the neighbor has to remove the barrier. The neighbor refuses.
You are doomed. Your neighbor has broken the agreement and your children are starving.
The town council rules that the neighbor has to reimburse you for lost income.
The neighbor refuses.
So now what happens? Does the town council say: “Sorry, appleman, we tried and failed, so just go roll up in a corner and die?”
Short of war (physically forcing the neighbor to remove the barrier) there is only one solution. If the neighbor doesn’t have to abide by the rules regarding your apples, the council releases you from your obligation to abide by the rules regarding his apples.
This gives the starved member at least a chance in hell to make a living because now he is free to come up with an alternative to the apples without being worried about retribution from the neighbor.
What we all forget, is that UIGEA has cost the rest of the world jobs and money. People are without a way to feed their families because of it. Thousands all over the world have been laid off. Thousands have lost all their investment for retirement. There are actual people suffering because of this, it’s not just a question of whether affiliates are allowed to collect monies for services rendered, it’s a complete disaster for tens of thousands of people the world around.
Forcing an injured party to continue to respect the “rights” of the party that is trying to kill them is inhumane.
This has nothing to do with theft, it has to do with open trade and with the right to make a living.
Now, the neighbor actually has the right to forbid the sale of apples, period. But he does not have the right to say: “My apples can be sold, but not yours.”
The world in general is trying to establish an ethical way to conduct business for all. It is one of the greatest accomplishments of our times and replaces wars. We are actually trying to enter an era of true civilization.
A country cannot expect world protection of it’s trade if it disregards the rights of others.
At that point, others are released from the trade obligations towards the offender, so to put them into a situation where they can compete and make a living again.