Zach Ward, President of Microvast's Energy Division, cuts the ribbon at the opening ceremony for Microvast's Technology and Testing Center in Timnath, Colorado, December 20, 2022. Credit: Microvast via LinkedIn
When the Department of Energy announced a $200 million grant to battery maker Microvast Holdings for a plant in northern Tennessee last October, it seemed like a win-win. The funds would enable the Texas-based company to quickly ramp up production of its cutting edge technology, and bolster the U.S.’s battery supply chain — a key goal of the Biden administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure spending package.
In the following months, however, Microvast found itself embroiled in a political controversy that has left the status of the DOE grant in doubt.
The dispute stems from Republican lawmakers’ criticism of the company’s ties to China. In multiple letters to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK) have pointed out that the majority of Microvast’s assets and revenues are in China, and argued that the “DOE’s actions directly undermine the United States’ position in its race against China for tec
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with Wang Wentao, the Chinese Commerce Minister, in Washington. It marked the first cabinet-level meeting in Washington between the U.S. and China during the Biden administration, and it was a signal of the Commerce Department’s increasingly central role in the current U.S.-China relationship. Usually, the Commerce Department is far from the center of anything, but as Katrina Northrop reports, the department is uniquely suited to address the China challenge.
The lawyer and author talks about the attack on a train in the 1920s which created an international incident, the rise of the Communist Party and the conditions for foreign media in China today.
