Microvast, a China-based electric battery company, is the focus of an inquiry from the top ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. A grant made to the company is under investigation by United States financial regulators.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) said in a letter to DOE secretary Jennifer Granholm, that the Biden Administration’s grant to Microvast “endangers our national security.”
According to Barrasso, a recent Microvast prospectus states, “Our operations are subject to extensive PRC [People’s Republic of China] government regulation…We could become subject to regulations issued by [Cyberspace Administration of China] and requirements of the PRC’s Cyber Security Law or Data Security Law.”
Microvast’s headquarters while listed as Stafford, Texas, is operated primarily in China according to the Washington Free Beacon. The company’s founders are listed as Yang Wu, Diaokun Xiao, and Xiang Li and its 2021 annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission said that it is a “holding company, and we conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries, and principally through our subsidiary in China.” Many of the company’s customers are Chinese state-owned entities. In addition, Microvast has received subsidies from the Chinese government.
