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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
9. | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
PURCHASE COMMITMENTS Obligated purchase commitments for capital expenditures and related project expenses were approximately $109.8 million at December 31, 2014 and $161.4 million at December 31, 2013. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS We are involved in various legal proceedings incidental to our business. Although the outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe that any of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign environmental and occupational safety and health laws, regulations and ordinances, including those regulating air emissions, water discharge, waste management and environmental cleanup. We will continue to closely monitor our environmental conditions to ensure that we are in compliance with all laws, regulations and ordinances. We have made, and will continue to make, capital and other expenditures to comply with environmental requirements, including recurring administrative costs. Such expenditures were not significant during 2014, 2013 and 2012. In 2012, the International UAW filed suit against AAM alleging that we violated certain provisions of the collective bargaining agreement covering represented hourly associates at the DMC and CKMF related to pension and postretirement benefits. In 2012, we recorded $28.7 million in cost of goods sold related to pension and postretirement benefits to be provided to certain eligible UAW associates as a result of our election to apply MAP-21 and the subsequent recertification of our U.S. hourly pension plan. This suit was settled in 2012. ENVIRONMENTAL OBLIGATIONS Due to the nature of our manufacturing operations, we have legal obligations to perform asset retirement activities pursuant to federal, state, and local requirements. The process of estimating environmental liabilities is complex. Significant uncertainty may exist related to the timing and method of the settlement of these obligations. Therefore, these liabilities are not reasonably estimable until a triggering event occurs that allows us to estimate a range and assess the probabilities of potential settlement dates and the potential methods of settlement. In the future, we will update our estimated costs and potential settlement dates and methods and their associated probabilities based on available information. Any update may change our estimate and could result in a material adjustment to this liability. PRODUCT WARRANTIES We record a liability for estimated warranty obligations at the dates our products are sold. These estimates are established using sales volumes and internal and external warranty data where there is no payment history and historical information about the average cost of warranty claims for customers with prior claims. We estimate our costs based on the contractual arrangements with our customers, existing customer warranty terms and internal and external warranty data, which includes a determination of our warranty claims and take actions to improve product quality and minimize warranty claims. We continuously evaluate these estimates and our customers' administration of their warranty programs. We closely monitor actual warranty claim data and adjust the liability, as necessary, on a quarterly basis. We recorded $2.3 million and $9.9 million of expense in 2013 and 2012, respectively, related to a field action with our largest customer. In 2013, we made warranty payments of $12.3 million, of which $11.3 million related to this field action. During 2014 and 2013, we also made adjustments to our warranty accrual to reflect revised estimates regarding our projected future warranty obligations. The following table provides a reconciliation of changes in the product warranty liability:
| December 31,
| 2014 |  | 2013
| (in millions)
Beginning balance | $ | 14.3 |  |  | $ | 29.1 |
Accruals | 9.3 |  |  | 12.8 |
Settlements | (2.2 | ) |  | (12.3 | )
Adjustments to prior period accruals | (8.7 | ) |  | (15.0 | )
Foreign currency translation | (0.3 | ) |  | (0.3 | )
Ending balance | $ | 12.4 |  |  | $ | 14.3 |

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- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.25) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6449706&loc=d3e16207-108621 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6398077&loc=d3e12565-110249 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394976&loc=d3e25287-109308 + Details
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