{"id":2535038,"date":"2026-01-13T12:35:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T17:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donalds-takes-cash-from-ccp-linked-firm-despite-criticism-of-china\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T12:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T17:38:53","slug":"donalds-takes-cash-from-ccp-linked-firm-despite-criticism-of-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donalds-takes-cash-from-ccp-linked-firm-despite-criticism-of-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Donalds takes cash from CCP-linked firm despite criticism of China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdonalds-takes-cash-from-ccp-linked-firm-despite-criticism-of-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2535038&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Rep. Byron Donalds&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-ny-gov-cuomo-may-be-prosecuted-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations\/\" title=\"Biden: NY Gov. Cuomo May Be \u2018Prosecuted\u2019 Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations\">gubernatorial campaign<\/a> accepted roughly $450,000 in donations from iGas, a Florida refrigerant importer that is partially (34%) owned by Zhejiang Juhua, a Chinese state-controlled firm. iGas and its Chinese-born CEO, Xiaben Meng, have faced accusations from U.S. competitors and the American HFC Coalition of dumping cheap, unapproved Chinese refrigerants into the U.S.market, using workarounds to evade antidumping duties, and failing to properly report imports &#8211; conduct that prompted EPA fines and additional import taxes on Chinese HFC blends. The contributions are notable because Donalds has publicly criticized the Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/under-trump-americans-have-seen-their-best-wage-growth-in-40-years\/\" title=\"Under Trump, Americans Have Seen Their Best Wage Growth In 40 Years\">trade practices<\/a>, advocated tariffs and other measures to counter Beijing, and positioned himself as a China hawk while leading the Florida GOP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dr-seuss-uncanceled-virginia-entrepreneur-passes-out-dr-seuss-books-to-kids\/\" title=\"Dr. Seuss Uncanceled: Virginia Ent...reneur Passes Out Dr. Seuss Books To Kids\">gubernatorial primary<\/a> (backed by a Trump endorsement and strong polling). The article also notes past instances where Florida politicians who took iGas money advocated on the company&#8217;s behalf; Donalds&#8217;s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Byron Donalds took large donations from CCP-linked firm despite criticism of China<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2144771\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Despite his strong rhetoric condemning the Chinese <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/communist-party\/\">Communist Party&rsquo;s<\/a> trade practices, Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/byron-donalds\/\">Byron Donalds&rsquo;s<\/a> (R-FL) gubernatorial campaign has accepted $450,000 in donations from a refrigerant importer that is partially owned by a Chinese state-controlled enterprise and stands accused of harming domestic businesses by flooding the market with cheap Chinese imports and avoiding import duties.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Everybody knows that <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/china\/\">China<\/a> not only has cheated in any trade negotiation &hellip; that&rsquo;s ever occurred, but they also cheat when it comes to actually going through the proper channels on how trade is supposed to be handled,&rdquo; Donalds, the Republican front-runner in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/florida\/\">Florida&rsquo;s<\/a> gubernatorial primary, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/archives\/731114-donalds-trump-tariff\/\">said in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/4416796\/byron-york-wants-reveal-powell-alleged-wrongdoing-doj-probe\/\">Byron York calls for reveal of Powell&rsquo;s &lsquo;alleged wrongdoing&rsquo; amid DOJ inquiry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/4416583\/house-gop-urge-hhs-watchdog-crack-down-medicare-fraud-california\/\">California has allowed widespread Medicare fraud, House Republicans say<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4415177\/clintons-contempt-congress-no-show-epstein-depositions\/\">Clintons to be held in contempt of Congress if they no-show depositions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Florida campaign finance records show that Donalds took multiple six-figure donations from <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/01\/localimages\/Screenshot-2026-01-12-133224.png\">iGas <\/a>and its <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/01\/localimages\/Screenshot-2026-01-12-140311.png\">Chinese-born CEO<\/a> over the course of June 2025. Zhejiang Juhua, a company controlled by China&rsquo;s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, owns a &#8203;34% stake in iGas, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/lda.gov\/filings\/public\/filing\/9a8ffa09-7d2e-439b-8454-180f2c3e3574\/print\/\">according <\/a>to lobbying disclosures. Zhejiang Juhua has been involved with iGas since the beginning, with media reports identifying it as a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/politics-government\/article281809333.html\">founding partner<\/a> of the Florida-based firm.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond ownership ties, iGas has also engaged in activity commonly identified by China hawks as one way Beijing weakens American industry.<\/p>\n<p>The American HFC Coalition, a trade association representing domestic refrigerant manufacturers, accused iGas of dumping cheaply manufactured, unapproved Chinese refrigerants into the U.S. market, thus violating regulations meant to protect domestic producers and consumers, in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/24168448-amercian-hfc-coalition-epa-comments\/\">2021 letter<\/a> to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/environmental-protection-agency\/\">Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>U.S. trade officials clearly saw some merit in these complaints, as they <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2016\/08\/19\/2016-19873\/hydrofluorocarbon-blends-from-the-peoples-republic-of-china-antidumping-duty-order\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >approved additional import taxes<\/a><\/a> on an array of cheap Chinese refrigerators following the HFC Coalition&rsquo;s letter. iGas&rsquo;s American competitors later <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/24168711-american-hfc-coalition-anti-circumvention-inquiry-request\">accused <\/a>the firm of using workarounds to evade paying the additional trade duties on these chemicals &mdash; a move reminiscent of the shady Chinese trade practices Donalds complained about in April.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Donald Trump speaks as Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), left, and Byron Donalds (R-FL), right, listen before Trump presents law enforcement officers with an award in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The EPA has since <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/echo.epa.gov\/enforcement-case-report?activity_id=3603566997\">fined companies<\/a> run by Xiaben Meng, iGas&rsquo;s CEO, hundreds of thousands of dollars for failing to report the quantities of refrigerants brought in from China.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>iGas has a history of extracting concessions from the politicians it supports. A 2023 <em>Miami Herald <\/em>investigation <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/politics-government\/article281809333.html\">found <\/a>that Florida politicians who took money from the refrigerant importer often went on to advocate directly on its behalf. In one case, a GOP congressman wrote a letter to the EPA mirroring language used by the company itself in correspondence with the agency.<\/p>\n<p>Donalds has long presented himself as a strong critic of the CCP. As a congressman, he has described China as America&rsquo;s &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/flvoicenews.com\/donalds-leads-legislation-to-ban-funding-nuclear-exchanges-with-china\/\">top hegemonic adversary<\/a>,&rdquo; advocated the use of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/rep-donalds-trump-tariffs-risks-163633804.html\">tariffs <\/a>to pressure Beijing into restricting the flow of fentanyl precursors, and introduced legislation aimed at slighting the CCP <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/donalds.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1665\">economically <\/a>as well as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/donalds.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1802\">diplomatically<\/a>. Despite these stances, a firm with strong links to China, such as iGas, nonetheless donated to Donalds&rsquo;s bid to succeed Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ron-desantis\/\">Ron DeSantis<\/a> (R-FL).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3828759\/mikie-sherrill-large-donations-ccp-linked-executives\/\"><strong>NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE TOOK LARGE DONATIONS FROM CCP-LINKED AUTO EXECUTIVES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Polling has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.270towin.com\/2026-governor-polls\/florida\">consistently shown<\/a> Donalds &mdash; who snagged an endorsement from President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> in February 2025 &mdash; holding a massive lead over his primary election opponents. A November 2025 poll, for instance, had Donalds polling at 45% with his closest challenger, former Florida House speaker Paul Renner, trailing at just 3%. That status quo could soon be shaken, however, as Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins (R) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4415060\/florida-lieutenant-governor-enters-gubernatorial-race-succeed-desantis\/\">announced <\/a>that he would be joining the gubernatorial race on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The Donalds campaign did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donalds took $450K from CCP-linked refrigerant firm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":2535039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AP25088030163237.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[32322,69845,23627,4501],"class_list":["post-2535038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-byron-donalds","tag-campaign-finance-2","tag-ccp-linked","tag-china"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AP25088030163237.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2535038"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2535043,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535038\/revisions\/2535043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2535039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2535038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2535038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2535038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}