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Commitments and Contingent Liabilities | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES Guarantees Indemnifications In connection with acquisitions and divestitures as of December 31, 2017, the company has indemnified respective parties against certain liabilities that may arise in connection with these transactions and business activities prior to the completion of the transactions. The term of these indemnifications, which typically pertain to environmental, tax and product liabilities, is generally indefinite. In addition, the company indemnifies its duly elected or appointed directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, against liabilities incurred as a result of their activities for the company, such as adverse judgments relating to litigation matters. If the indemnified party were to incur a liability or have a liability increase as a result of a successful claim, pursuant to the terms of the indemnification, the company would be required to reimburse the indemnified party. The maximum amount of potential future payments is generally unlimited. Obligations for Equity Affiliates & Others The company has directly guaranteed various debt obligations under agreements with third parties related to equity affiliates, customers and suppliers. At December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the company had directly guaranteed $297 million and $388 million, respectively, of such obligations. These amounts represent the maximum potential amount of future (undiscounted) payments that the company could be required to make under the guarantees. The company would be required to perform on these guarantees in the event of default by the guaranteed party. The company assesses the payment/performance risk by assigning default rates based on the duration of the guarantees. These default rates are assigned based on the external credit rating of the counterparty or through internal credit analysis and historical default history for counterparties that do not have published credit ratings. For counterparties without an external rating or available credit history, a cumulative average default rate is used. In certain cases, the company has recourse to assets held as collateral, as well as personal guarantees from customers and suppliers. Assuming liquidation, these assets are estimated to cover approximately 23 percent of the $89 million of guaranteed obligations of customers and suppliers. Set forth below are the company's guaranteed obligations at December 31, 2017. The following tables provide a summary of the final expiration and maximum future payments for each type of guarantee:
Guarantees at December 31, 2017 (Successor) | Final Expiration | Maximum Future Payments
(In millions)
Obligations for customers and suppliers 1: |  |
Bank borrowings | 2022 | $ | 89 |
Obligations for non-consolidated affiliates 2: |  |  |
Bank borrowings | 2018 | 161 |
Obligations for Chemours 3: |  |  |
Chemours' purchase obligations | 2018 | 10 |
Residual value guarantees 4 | 2029 | 37 |
Total guarantees |  | $ | 297 |
1. | Existing guarantees for customers and suppliers, as part of contractual agreements.
2. | Existing guarantees for non-consolidated affiliates' liquidity needs in normal operations.
3. | Guarantee for Chemours' raw material purchase obligations under agreement with third party supplier.
4. | The company provides guarantees related to leased assets specifying the residual value that will be available to the lessor at lease termination through sale of the assets to the lessee or third parties.
Operating Leases The company uses various leased facilities and equipment in its operations. The terms for these leased assets vary depending on the lease agreement. Future minimum lease payments (including residual value guarantee amounts) under non-cancelable operating leases are $264 million, $190 million, $137 million, $104 million and $81 million for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively, and $268 million for subsequent years and are not reduced by non-cancelable minimum sublease rentals due in the future in the amount of $3 million. Net rental expense under operating leases was $105 million, $179 million, $242 million and $266 million for the period September 1 through December 31, 2017, for the period January 1 through August 31, 2017, and for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Litigation The company is subject to various legal proceedings arising out of the normal course of its current and former business operations, including product liability, intellectual property, commercial, environmental and antitrust lawsuits. It is not possible to predict the outcome of these various proceedings. Although considerable uncertainty exists, management does not anticipate that the ultimate disposition of these matters will have a material adverse effect on the company's results of operations, consolidated financial position or liquidity. However, the ultimate liabilities could be material to results of operations in the period recognized. PFOA DuPont used PFOA (collectively, perfluorooctanoic acids and its salts, including the ammonium salt), as a processing aid to manufacture some fluoropolymer resins at various sites around the world including its Washington Works' plant in West Virginia. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement discussed in Note 4, the company is indemnified by Chemours for the PFOA matters discussed below and has recorded a total indemnification asset of $15 million. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA") and New Jersey department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) DuPont is obligated under agreements with EPA, including a 2009 consent decree to which Chemours was added in 2017, and has made voluntary commitments to NJDEP. These obligations and voluntary commitments include surveying, sampling and testing drinking water in and around certain company sites and offering treatment or an alternative supply of drinking water if tests indicate the presence of PFOA in drinking water at or greater than the national health advisory level established from time to time by the EPA. At December 31, 2017, the company had an accrual of $15 million related to these obligations and voluntary commitments. The company recorded an indemnification asset corresponding to the accrual balance at December 31, 2017. Leach v. DuPont In August 2001, a class action, captioned Leach v. DuPont, was filed in West Virginia state court alleging that residents living near the Washington Works facility had suffered, or may suffer, deleterious health effects from exposure to PFOA in drinking water. A settlement was reached in 2004 that binds approximately 80,000 residents, (the "Leach Settlement".) In addition to paying $23 million to plaintiff’s attorneys for fees and expenses and $70 million to fund a community health project, the company is obligated to fund up to $235 million for a medical monitoring program for eligible class members and to pay administrative costs and fees associated with the program. In January 2012, the company put $1 million into an escrow account to fund medical monitoring as required by the settlement agreement. As of December 31, 2017, less than $1 million has been disbursed from the account. The company also must continue to provide water treatment designed to reduce the level of PFOA in water to six area water districts, including the Little Hocking Water Association, and private well users. While it is probable that the company will incur liabilities related to funding the medical monitoring program and providing water treatment, the company does not expect any such liabilities to be material. Under the Leach Settlement, the company funded a series of health studies which were completed in October 2012 by an independent science panel of experts (the "C8 Science Panel".) The C8 Science Panel found probable links, as defined in the Leach Settlement, between exposure to PFOA and pregnancy-induced hypertension, including preeclampsia; kidney cancer; testicular cancer; thyroid disease; ulcerative colitis; and diagnosed high cholesterol. Multi-District Litigation Leach class members may pursue personal injury claims against DuPont only for the six human diseases for which the C8 Science Panel determined a probable link exists. Following the Leach Settlement, approximately 3,550 lawsuits alleging personal injury claims were filed in various federal and state courts in Ohio and West Virginia. These lawsuits are consolidated in multi-district litigation ("MDL") in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. In the first quarter of 2017, the MDL was settled for $670.7 million in cash (the "MDL Settlement"), half of which was to be paid by Chemours and half paid by DuPont. At December 31, 2017, all payments under the settlement agreement have been made by both companies. DuPont’s payment is not subject to indemnification or reimbursement by Chemours. In exchange for that payment, DuPont and Chemours receive releases of all claims by the settling plaintiffs. The MDL Settlement was entered into solely by way of compromise and settlement and is not in any way an admission of liability or fault by DuPont or Chemours. All of the MDL plaintiffs participated and resolved their claims within the MDL Settlement. New Items At December 31, 2017, five lawsuits had been filed against the company in West Virginia and four in Ohio alleging personal injury from exposure to PFOA in drinking water. In addition, three lawsuits are pending in federal court in New York on behalf of five individuals who are residents of Hoosick Falls, New York. The plaintiffs claim personal injuries, including kidney cancer, thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis, from alleged exposure to PFOA discharged into the air and water from nearby manufacturing facilities owned and operated by defendant third parties. Plaintiffs claim that PFOA used at the facilities was purchased from or manufactured by the company and co-defendant, 3M Company. An action is pending in Alabama state court filed by a municipal water utility. The plaintiff alleges contamination from wastewater from defendant carpet manufacturers’ operations using perfluorinated chemicals and compounds, including PFOA, (“PFCs”). Plaintiff alleges that the PFCs used in defendant manufacturers’ operations were supplied by the company and co-defendant 3M Company. While it is reasonably possible that the company could incur liabilities related to these actions, it does not expect any such liabilities would be material. Chemours is defending and indemnifying the company in these matters in accordance with the amendment to the Separation Agreement discussed below. Amendment to Separation Agreement Concurrent with the MDL Settlement, DuPont and Chemours amended the Separation Agreement to provide for a limited sharing of potential future PFOA liabilities (i.e., indemnifiable losses, as defined in the Separation Agreement) for a period of five years beginning July 6, 2017. During that five-year period, Chemours will annually pay future PFOA liabilities up to $25 million and, if such amount is exceeded, DuPont would pay any excess amount up to the next $25 million (which payment will not be subject to indemnification by Chemours), with Chemours annually bearing any further excess liabilities. After the five-year period, this limited sharing agreement will expire, and Chemours’ indemnification obligations under the Separation Agreement will continue unchanged. There have been no charges incurred by DuPont under this arrangement through December 31, 2017. Chemours has also agreed that it will not contest its liability to DuPont under the Separation Agreement for PFOA liabilities on the basis of ostensible defenses generally applicable to the indemnification provisions under the Separation Agreement, including defenses relating to punitive damages, fines or penalties or attorneys’ fees, and waives any such defenses with respect to PFOA liabilities. Chemours has, however, retained defenses as to whether any particular PFOA claim is within the scope of the indemnification provisions of the Separation Agreement. It is possible that new lawsuits could be filed against DuPont related to PFOA that may not be within the scope of the MDL Settlement. Any such new litigation would be subject to indemnification by Chemours under the Separation Agreement, as amended. Fayetteville Works Facility, North Carolina Prior to the separation of Chemours, the company introduced GenX as a polymerization processing aid and a replacement for PFOA at the Fayetteville Works facility. The facility is now owned and operated by Chemours which continues to manufacture and use GenX. Chemours is responding to ongoing inquiries and investigations from federal, state and local investigators, regulators and other governmental authorities as well as inquiries from the media and local community stakeholders. These inquiries and investigations involve the discharge of GenX and certain similar compounds from the Chemours’ facility at Fayetteville Works into the Cape Fear River in Bladen County, North Carolina. In August 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina served the company with a subpoena for testimony and the production of documents to a grand jury. In the fourth quarter 2017, DuPont was served with additional subpoenas relating to the same issue. The subpoenas seek documents and testimony related to alleged discharges of PFOA and/or GenX from the Fayetteville Works facility into the Cape Fear River. It is possible that these ongoing inquiries and investigations, including the grand jury subpoena, could result in penalties or sanctions, or that additional litigation will be instituted against Chemours and/or the company. At December 31, 2017, several actions, filed on behalf of putative classes of property owners and residents in areas near or who draw drinking water from the Cape Fear River, are pending in federal court against Chemours, the company and one also names DowDuPont. These actions relate to the alleged discharge of certain perflourinated chemicals into the river from the operations and wastewater treatment at the Fayetteville Works facility. The three purported class actions, filed in the fourth quarter 2017 and now consolidated into a single purported class action, seek various relief including medical monitoring, property damages and injunctive relief. Separate actions pending at December 31, 2017 were filed by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and Brunswick County, NC seeking actual and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief. These actions have since been consolidated and two additional North Carolina water authorities have joined the action. Management believes the probability of loss with respect to these actions is remote. The company has an indemnification claim against Chemours with respect to current and future inquiries and claims, including lawsuits, related to the foregoing. At December 31, 2017, Chemours is defending and indemnifying the company in the pending civil actions. Environmental Accruals for environmental matters are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated based on current law and existing technologies. At December 31, 2017, the company had accrued obligations of $433 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $67 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. These obligations are included in "Accrued and other current liabilities" and "Other noncurrent obligations" in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to $920 million above the amount accrued at December 31, 2017. Consequently, it is reasonably possible that environmental remediation and restoration costs in excess of amounts accrued could have a material impact on the company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. It is the opinion of the company’s management, however, that the possibility is remote that costs in excess of the range disclosed will have a material impact on the company’s results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. Inherent uncertainties exist in these estimates primarily due to unknown conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and emerging remediation technologies for handling site remediation and restoration. At December 31, 2016, the company had accrued obligations of $457 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $50 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. Pursuant to the DuPont and Chemours Separation Agreement, the company is indemnified by Chemours for certain environmental matters, included in the liability of $433 million, that have an estimated liability of $242 million as of December 31, 2017, and a potential exposure that ranges up to approximately $430 million above the amount accrued. As such, the company has recorded an indemnification asset of $242 million corresponding to the company’s accrual balance related to these matters at December 31, 2017, including $47 million related to the Superfund sites.

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