Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex, S. A. (Cuba) · ¶41

First, the Helms-Burton Act’s cause of action expressly applies against Cuban agencies and instrumentalities. Under this Court’s precedents, such statutory language signals that Congress waived sovereign immunity. Second, the Act explicitly contemplated that the cause of action would supply a meaningful remedy against Cuban agencies and instrumentalities. But applying the FSIA would largely negate the cause of action. A plaintiff could not readily satisfy the FSIA’s only potentially relevant exceptions—the commercial activity or expropriation exceptions—because those exceptions require direct effects or commercial activity in the United States. And in light of the Helms-Burton Act’s simultaneous embargo prohibiting American commercial activity with Cuba, that showing would be difficult if not impossible for a plaintiff to make. Third, the Act provides that subject-matter jurisdiction…

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