Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex, S. A. (Cuba) · ¶36

For present purposes, two FSIA exceptions are relevant. The first, the commercial activity exception, allows suits against foreign sovereigns, including their agencies and instrumentalities, based on “an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign state elsewhere” when the act at issue “causes a direct effect in the United States.” §1605(a)(2). We will come back to that exception below; for now, note that it requires a plaintiff to show that the foreign agency’s or instrumentality’s allegedly unlawful act caused a direct effect in the United States.

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