Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex, S. A. (Cuba) · ¶97

This case involves a suit brought under the Helms-Burton Act against Cuban-owned companies, and the question is whether those defendants are immune from suit. All agree that Helms-Burton supplies a cause of action. And all agree that the FSIA grants the defendants presumptive immunity from suit: They “shall be immune from the jurisdiction” of the federal courts unless an FSIA exception is met. 28 U. S. C. §1604. But Exxon argues that the FSIA’s strictures do not apply because Helms-Burton makes “unmistakably clear” an abrogation of the immunity that the FSIA may otherwise grant the defendants. Kirtz, 601 U. S., at 49. The majority accepts that argument, but it is wrong.

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