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

Summary

Justice Kavanaugh, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett, held that the Helms-Burton Act itself abrogates the sovereign immunity of Cuban agencies and instrumentalities, so plaintiffs suing those entities under the Act need not independently satisfy an exception under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The Court relied on the Act’s express cause of action against foreign instrumentalities, the practical incompatibility between its embargo and the relevant FSIA exceptions, its provision for federal-question jurisdiction, and its presidential suspension authority. The Court reversed the D. C. Circuit’s judgment and remanded. Justice Kagan, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, dissented, arguing that the Act did not unmistakably abrogate immunity and that its cause of action could operate alongside the FSIA’s exceptions.