In response, Congress passed and the President signed the Helms-Burton law which seeks to protect and preserve the claims of U.S. citizens to their property in Cuba. A review of the Helms-Burton legislation, however, discloses that the legislation does not impose any tariffs or duties on products imported to the United States from the EU's member states. Additionally, Helms-Burton does not subsidize U.S. products being exported to EU member states. As such, there appears to be no direct conflict with the provisions asserted in the challenge. From a legal perspective it is imprecise to couch the Helms-Burton debate in whether the legislation has an extraterritorial effect.
Most legislation causes effects in and out of a territory.
For example, many foreign persons complain that U.S. environmental laws make it very difficult and costly to do business in the United States. Therefore, an effect is clearly felt in and out of the territory. Notwithstanding, extra-territorial effect is rarely considered when passing such laws. The proper inquiry, however, should be whether under international law standards Congress has a jurisdictional base for legislating on a particular issue. There are two recognized basis for legislating.