A United States court may exercize subject-matter jurisdiction over a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act if the foreign government, or its agents and instrumentalities, cause a direct effect in the United States, 28 USC §1602(a)(2).

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia applied this rule to a situation involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which had entered into, and later allegedly broken, a contract with a U.S. corporation.

The effects allegedly felt by the corporation occurred in the United States and qualified under the FSIA, the court held on April 6, 2010 in the matter Cruise Connections Charter Management 1, LP et al. v. Attorney General of Canada et al., docket number 09-7060. -- Clemens Kochinke, partner, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington, DC.