On Thursday, The Epoch Times posted an article about a grant that was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) that was rescinded.
The article reports:
House Republicans have voiced worries about the Biden administration’s energy-related spending, questioning a Department of Energy (DOE) official about how a Chinese-owned battery manufacturer was on pace to get hundreds of millions in taxpayer money before the Biden administration yanked the money away last month.
That company, Microvast, somehow qualified for a $200 million grant to build a battery separator facility in Tennessee as part of spending doled out through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
The Department of Energy announced the decision in October 2022 as part of $2.8 billion in what its announcement repeatedly described as “funded projects” for the American battery sector.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the money would “supercharge the private sector to ensure our clean energy future is American-made.”
“Shortly after the announcement, Microvast’s association with the Chinese Communist Party became apparent,” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said in his opening statement at the June 21 hearing.
“According to Microvast’s own SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] filings, the government—referring to the People’s Republic of China—’exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities, and may intervene at any time with no notice,’” Griffith continued.
“Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could limit the legal protections available to you and us,” that same filing states. It also describes the firm’s receipt of Chinese government subsidies and states that “most of [Microvast’s] current customers” are in China.
The article notes:
At the June 21 hearing on Microvast, Griffith and his colleagues questioned David Howell, principal deputy director of the DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.
The Virginian asked Howell how companies are vetted by the DOE for funding.
The DOE official said “detailed negotiations are started” over BIL grants after selections are made.
“Most of us did not understand that, because it appeared from the press statements that these people were awardees,” Griffith said.
“The in-depth vetting began the day after those announcements,” Howell said, before stating that previous “in-depth vetting” of the applicants focused on “technical capacity and capabilities of the companies.”
Griffith pressed Howell on the official’s assertion that Microvast is “a majority-U.S. owned company.”
“If they’re majority U.S.-owned, how can the Chinese Communist Party through the Chinese government say … why would they say that they could be stopped or change course because of what the government said in China?” he asked.
“Simply because Microvast’s major production operations are in China,” Howell answered.
“All of the other companies that you vetted do not have that problem?” Griffith asked.
“That is correct,” Howell responded.
We have a budget deficit. We have tons of money that we have borrowed from China. Why in the world would Congress be passing laws that benefited the Chinese economy?