Shares of the battery technology company, Microvast Holdings (NASDAQ: MVST) crashed in pre-market trading on Tuesday after Reuters reported that the U.S. Energy Department will not award a grant of $200 million to the company as lawmakers remained concerned about Microvast’s alleged closed ties to the Chinese government.
The U.S. Energy Department was in discussions with Microvast to award the grant for building a battery technology plant in Tennessee. This grant stemmed from the U.S. Government’s $1 trillion 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Two Republican lawmakers had written a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm last year stating that the company was linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that raised “serious concerns about the department’s ability to protect U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
Even with today’s crash, MVST stock has jumped by more than 40% year-to-date.
