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Section 301 Investigation: China's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology 

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950 ECHO LANE, SUITE 360

HOUSTON, TEXAS 77024-2788

p 713.932.1540

f 713.932.1542

givensjohnston.com

ROBERT T. GIVENS* SCOTT L. JOHNSTON*

JOSEPH A. ACAYAN* SHARON STEELE DOYLE

JAMES GARLAND HURST LUIS F. ARANDIA, JR.

PRACHI SHARMA DAVID S. HSU 徐世岡

KEITH HENNESSEE, OF COUNSEL

Luis F. Arandia, Jr., Associate

larandia@givensjohnston.com

 

September 21, 2018

VIA ELECTRONIC FILING, DOCKET NO. USTR-2018-0025

PUBLIC DOCUMENT

The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer

U.S. Trade Representative

Office of the United States Trade Representative

600 17th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006

Attn: Arthur Tsao, USTR Assistant General Counsel

Re: Request for Exclusion of Particular Products from the Determination of Action 

Pursuant to Section 301- Magnesium Anodes with Various End Configurations 

and/or Adaptor Caps (HTSUS Subheading 8543.30.9040)

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer,

On behalf of our client, MAG Specialties, Inc. (“MAG Specialties”), we hereby submit 

our exclusion request for certain magnesium anodes with various end configurations and/or 

adaptor caps from the Section 301 duties enacted against products from the People’s Republic of 

China (“China”). As described below, MAG Specialties’ products are not economically and 

commercially available outside of China. The imposition of Section 301 duties would cause 

severe economic harm to MAG Specialties and the products are not strategically important to 

China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative or other industrial programs. 

For these reasons, MAG Specialties respectfully requests that magnesium anodes with 

various end configurations and/or adaptor caps imported from China, classifiable under HTSUS 

subheading 8543.30.9040, be excluded from Section 301 duties. 

I. MAG Specialties & Magnesium Anodes Background

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, MAG Specialties is a global leader in magnesium 

extrusions and has over 75 years of experience in the magnesium industry (formerly Dow 

Magnesium & Timminco business). MAG Specialties has a manufacturing facility located in 

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, that utilizes advanced Dow extrusion technology. With respect to 

magnesium anodes, MAG Specialties has over 75 year-experience producing magnesium and 
MAG Specialties- Section 301 Exclusion Request September 21, 2018

Page 2 of 4

aluminum anodes for the global water heater market. Its customers include large commercial 

water heater manufacturers and over twenty additional smaller supply houses in North America. 

MAG Specialties has anode production capacity in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Through interaction with electrical charges, magnesium anodes provide sacrificial 

cathodic protection. Cathodic protection is a corrosion inhibiting method that takes advantage of 

electrochemical properties of metals. A metal having a more negative voltage (higher solution 

potential) will act as an anode to a metal that is less negative (lower solution potential).

Corrosion is shifted away from the steel to the anode, which corrodes sacrificially. This is called 

sacrificial cathodic protection.

There are four primary areas where magnesium anodes offer important advantage

in cost, performance, and ease of installation:

• Water heaters and water storage tanks, where a small diameter anode simplifies 

installation.

• Steel located in high resistivity electrolytes, where a small diameter anode gives a 

desirable current output-to-anode weight ratio.

• Gas service entrance piping, where a small diameter anode can be driven into the ground 

to provide convenient and inexpensive protection.

• Prepolarization of structures in seawater, where a small diameter anode gives short-term, 

high-current output.

See MAG Specialties’ datasheet for extruded and cast magnesium anodes enclosed as Exhibit 1.

II. Lack of Economic and Commercial Availability Outside of China

Although MAG Specialties has an anode production facility in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, 

MAG Specialties requires importation of extruded magnesium anodes from China due to 

increased customer demand in the U.S. and globally. At present, MAG Specialties’ Mexican 

facility cannot satisfy current demand. MAG Specialties’ Chinese supplier comprises around 80-

90% of its magnesium anode supply.

To the best of MAG Specialties’ knowledge, its Chinese supplier in Tianjin, China has no 

government or state-owned enterprise investment. Furthermore, there has not been any issues 

related to the forced transfer of technology to which the additional 25% duties seek to remedy. 

To the best of MAG Specialties’ knowledge, its Chinese supplier has not benefited from the 

Chinese Government’s acts, policies, or practices identified by the USTR as being unreasonable 

or discriminatory and that burden or restrict U.S. commerce. To the contrary, the Chinese 

supplier increases U.S. and North American commerce by complementing the Mexican facility, 

and allows MAG Specialties the ability to compete in a global market, to invest saved capital in 

the U.S., and to create management, administrative and R&D jobs in the U.S. 

To the best of MAG Specialties’ knowledge, it cannot readily source the same or 

comparable products elsewhere in a commercially sufficient and cost-efficient manner. Nor can 

it increase its Mexican capacity fast enough to meet the increased demand of its customers. 
MAG Specialties- Section 301 Exclusion Request September 21, 2018

Page 3 of 4

Without its Chinese supply, MAG Specialties would not be able to provide the full-range desired

by its customers. 

III. Imposition of Additional Duties Would Cause Severe Economic Harm to MAG

Specialties

The imposition of Section 301 duties on MAG Specialties’ imported magnesium anodes

would significantly increase production costs and cause severe economic harm to the company. 

Moreover, the increased costs will lead to lost sales and U.S. jobs. Finally, the increased costs 

undermine MAG Specialties’ ability to continue offering a full-range of cathodic protection 

solutions for the water heater industry and other industries. 

IV. Magnesium Anodes Are Not Strategically Important or Related to “Made in China 

2025” or other Chinese Industrial Programs

Application of the Section 301 tariffs to MAG Specialties’ magnesium anodes is 

inconsistent with the stated purpose of the Notice of Action, which was to impose higher tariff 

on “goods imported form China containing industrially significant technology, including those 

related to the ‘Made in China 2025 program.’”1 Magnesium anodes are not strategically 

important or related to “Made in China 2025” or other Chinese industrial programs. 

MAG Specialties’ magnesium anodes are not included in any of the ten strategic 

advanced technology manufacturing industries for promotion and development: (1) advanced 

information technology; (2) robotics and automated machine tools; (3) aircraft and aircraft 

components; (4) maritime vessels and marine engineering equipment; (5) advanced rail 

equipment; (6) new energy vehicles; (7) electrical generation and transmission equipment; (8) 

agricultural machinery and equipment; (9) new materials; and (10) pharmaceuticals and 

advanced medical devices.2

The imported products are not among those that benefit from the “Made in China 2025” 

program, or any other Chinese Government’s acts, policies, or practices identified by the USTR 

as being unreasonable or discriminatory and that burden or restrict U.S. commerce. Imposition of 

Section 301 tariffs on MAG Specialties’ magnesium anodes will only punish MAG Specialties 

with no practical effect to eliminate China’s unfair trade policies identified by USTR.

V. MAG Specialties’ Exclusion Would Be Easily Administrable by CBP

We believe U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) will be able to easily 

administer an exclusion for MAG Specialties’ magnesium anodes because the products are 

imported exclusively under the narrowly-defined 10-digit HTSUS subheading, 8543.30.9040, 

which provides for “Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not 

specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Machines and apparatus for 

 

1 See 83 Fed. Reg. 28,711 (June 20, 2018).

2 See USTR Section 301 Report into China's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, 

Intellectual Property, and Innovation, p. 14, available at: 

https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/Section%20301%20FINAL.PDF
MAG Specialties- Section 301 Exclusion Request September 21, 2018

Page 4 of 4

electroplating, electrolysis or electrophoresis: Other: Magnesium Anodes.” MAG Specialties is 

willing to work directly with CBP to identify its products in terms of its specific physical 

characteristics if helpful.

VI. Conclusion

Based on the reasons stated above, MAG Specialties respectfully requests an exclusion of 

magnesium anodes with various end configurations and/or adaptor caps from the Section 301

tariffs, because the products are not economically and commercially available outside of China; 

the imposition of 25% duties would cause severe economic harm to MAG Specialties; and the 

products are not strategically important to China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative or other 

industrial programs.

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter.

Respectfully submitted,

Givens & Johnston PLLC

Luis F. Arandia, Jr.

Attorney for MAG Specialties, Inc.
extruded magnesium anodes

GALVORODTM GALVOMAGTM

& GALVOMAGTM

Mg %

Al %

Balance

2.5 – 3.5

Balance

0.010 Max

Mn %

Zn %

0.20 – 1.0

0.7 – 1.3

0.50 – 1.3

—

Ca max. %

Si max. %

0.04

0.05

—

—

Cu max. %

Ni max. %

0.01

0.0010

0.02

0.001

Fe max. % 0.002 0.03

Other Impurities 

max %

Each 0.01 0.05

Total 0.30 0.30

Shape Identification 

Number Diameter (inches) Core Centering (inches)

Core Wire Diameter

(inches)

Straightness

(inches)

Approximate

Weight

DC-4400

DC-6066

0.500 – 0.020

0.675 – 0.020

Within .040

Within .050

0.135

0.135

0.060 in 2 ft

0.060 in 2 ft

0.015 lbs/in

0.025 lbs/in

DC-6836

DC-1070

0.700 – 0.020

0.750 – 0.020

Within 1/16

Within 1/16 

0.135

0.135

0.040 in 2 ft

0.040 in 2 ft

1.027 lbs/in

0.031 lbs/in

DC-8125

DC-983

0.800 – 0.020

0.840 – 0.020

Within 1/16 

Within 1/16 

0.135

0.135

0.040 in 2 ft

0.040 in 2 ft

0.035 lbs/in

0.038 lbs/in

DC-6826

DC-982

0.900 – 0.020

1.050 – 0.020

Within 1/16

Within 1/16

0.135

0.135

0.040 in 2 ft

0.040 in 2 ft

0.043 lbs/in

0.057 lbs/in

DC-980

DC-2376

1.315 – 0.020

1.561 ± 0.016

Within 1/16

Within 1/8

0.135

0.188

0.040 in 2 ft

0.250 in 10 ft

0.089 lbs/in

1.5 lbs/ft

DC-2375 2.024 ± 0.024 Within 1/8 0.188 0.250 in 10 ft 2.5 lbs/ft

DC-6772 2.562 ± 0.24 Within 1/8 0.188 0.250 in 10 ft 4.0 lbs/ft

DC-1016

GALVOLINETM

3/8 x 3/4 in ± 0.015 

Rectangle (1/8 R corners) Within 1/16 0.135 Furnished in coils withsheared ends 0.243 lbs/ft

End Configurations and Adaptor Caps

For magnesium anodes to provide protection, a positive electrical connection must be established and maintained between the anode and the 

structure being protected. To facilitate their use, anodes are furnished with 

various end configurations and/or adaptor caps. The standard end configurations are:

1: Both ends plain (saw cut)

2: One end plain, one end threaded

3: One end plain, one end capped

4: One end counterbored with core wire exposed (1.050 diameter and 

 larger only)

5: One end plain, one end with core wire exposed

6: Core wire exposed on both ends

7: Link-type anode, one end welded steel plug with 9" to 12' anode 

 sections joined with flexible connector to desired length

Areas of Application

There are four primary areas where extruded anodes offer important advantage in cost, performance, and ease of installation: 

	 •	 Water heaters and water storage tanks, where a small diameter

 anode simplifies installation.

	 •	 Steel located in high resistivity electrolytes, where a small diameter

 anode gives a desirable current output-to-anode weight ratio.

	 •	 Gas service entrance piping, where a small diameter anode can be

 driven into the ground to provide convenient and inexpensive 

 protection.

	 •	 Prepolarization of structures in seawater, where a small diameter

 anode gives short-term, high-current output.

Anode rods are extruded in twelve standard diameters ranging from 

0.500' to 2.5621, GALVOLINETM ribbon anode is extruded as a 

3/8" x 3/4" ribbon. Each anode has a steel core running lengthwise 

through its center.

Anode rods are available as either the standard GALVORODTM anode 

or the high-current output GALVOMAGTM anode. GALVOLINETM ribbon 

anode is manufactured with the high-current output composition.

In most environments, the oxidation potential is 1.4 to 1.5 volts for 

GALVORODTM and 1.6 to 1.7 volts for GALVOMAGTM (with respect to a 

copper-copper sulfate reference electrode). Because of its higher oxidation potential, GALVOMAGTM anodes of a given size deliver approximately 25% More current (milliamperes) than GALVRODTM anodes of the 

same size. As electrolyte resistivity increases, the need for

GALVOMAGTM anodes increases.

Current capacities for GALVOMAGTM and GALVORODTM anodes are similar and will range from 500 to 600 ampere hours per pound, depending 

primarily on the operating rate (anode current density).

Composition & Conductivity

Physical Tolerances
 • Shaping Imagination  www.magspecialtiesinc.c

Capped Anodes

Dimensions for Diagram Below Cap Threads

Cap Number Used on Anode 

(Diameter) A B C D Internal External

DS-1W

DS-2W

0.500

0.675, 0.700, 0.750

1.06

1.06

0.81

0.81

0.19

0.91

0.63

0.63

1/4-18 NPT

3/8-18 NPT

3/4-14 NPT

3/4-14 NPT

DS-3W

DS-4W

0.840, 0.900

1.050

1.06

1.31

0.81

1.19

0.19

0.44

0.63

1.00

1/2-14 NPT

3/4-14 NPT

3/4-14 NPT

1-111/2 NPT

Minimum backup torque to loosen cap from rod: DS-1W=5 ft•lb, DS-2W and DS-3W=20 ft•lb, DS-4W=50 ft•lb.

Threaded or Exposed Core Wire
cast magnesium anodes

Chemical Composition (%)

Mg Al Zn Mn Si (max) Cu (max) Ni (max) Fe (max) Other

M1C (High Potential) Balance 0.01 max — 0.50-1.3 0.05 0.02 0.001 0.03 0.3

AZ63-B (H1, Grade A) Balance 5.3-6.7 2.5-3.5 0.15-0.7 0.10 0.02 0.002 0.003 0.3

Note: Chemistry per ASTM B-843.

Electrochemical Properties

Open Circuit Potential

(-V to Cu/Cu SO4)

Open Circuit Potential

(-V respect to SCE)

Current Efficiency

(%)

M1C (High Potential) 1.750 – 1.900 1.675 – 1.825 ≥ 50

AZ63-B (H1, Grade A) 1.550 – 1.650 1.475 – 1.575 ≥ 50

Note: Electrochemical Properties per ASTM G97.

D-Type

Dimensions

A (in.) B (in.) C (in.) Weight (lb.)

3D3 3.5 3.8 4.8 3

5D3 3.5 3.8 7.8 5

9D3 3.5 3.8 13.6 9

17D3 3.5 3.8 25.8 17

20D2 2.6 2.6 56.3 20

32D5 5.5 5.8 19.5 32

48D5 5.5 5.8 29.3 48
 • Shaping Imaginations www.magspecialtiesinc.com

S-Type

Dimensions

A (in.) B (in.) C (in.) Weight (lb.)

3S3 3 3 4.5 3

5S3 3 3 7.5 5

9S3 3 3 13.5 9

17S4 4 4 17 17

32S5 5 5 21 32

60S4 4 4 60 60

Aqueous Series

Dimensions

Configuration A (in.) B (in.) C (in.) Weight (lb.)

2R5 I 5 2 - 3

2R5 II 5 2 - 3

7.5R III 8 8 2 7.5

15S III 8 8 4 15

12W IV 9 9 2 12

24W IV 9 18 2 24

44S IV 9 18 4 44