Inquiry Launched Into China-Based Microvast, Recipient Of Tennessee Tax Incentives
Image Credit: microvast.com
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
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.
The filing also stated, “The PRC government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business and may intervene, at any time and with no notice.”
The DOE gave the company $200 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law claiming it would “supercharge the private sector to ensure our clean energy future is American-made.”
A spokesman for the DOE said in a statement to the Free Beacon that Microvast “will use U.S. sourced raw materials in the proposed facility and equipment manufactured within the U.S. or by U.S. allies.”
Microvast spokeswoman Sarah Alexander told the Free Beacon that while the company operates out of Huzhou, China, it is majority U.S.-owned and expanding into Germany and the U.S.
Last year, Microvast was awarded a $5 million abatement on Montgomery County real and personal property taxes over the first 20 years of plant operations in Clarksville. This incentive allows the company to receive a 2.5% reduction in tax liability over two decades of operations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has added Microvast to a list of companies whose financial records are subject to restrictions by China’s government and who have auditors based in China. Companies on the list face being delisted after three years from U.S. stock exchanges under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
This govenor needs to stop doing business with companies out of the Country (CHINA)
He also needs to stop giving TAX DOLLARS To businesses. I for one DO NOT GIVE HIM PERMISSION TO GO INTO BUSINESS WITH COMPANIES WITH MY MONEY
TN has been too friendly to Chinese business. Gov. Lee is on their “favorites” list, of sitting governors who are friendly to China. This needs to stop.
This garbage needs to stop now. Especially doing any business with a Communist country.
Bill China Lee is owned and operated by China, just look at the China-US heartland website. The state of Tennessee is owned by China and our elections are the gold standard, even though we have zero rights to view or have a say in anything election related. But wait there’s more…there’s no paper trail to even view if your vote was even cast. I love the fact that we don’t even have the right to choose our SOS or his left nut Goins. I 🧡 communism TN
Instead of giving all these companies tax breaks to come to Tennessee why don’t they give us a break on taxing food. Food shouldn’t be taxed.