Financial Instruments and Derivative Financial Instruments (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Derivative [Line Items]

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Financial instruments held by the Company include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, revolving credit agreements, long-term debt, interest rate swap agreements and forward non-U.S. currency exchange contracts. The Company does not hold or issue financial instruments or derivative financial instruments for trading purposes.

The Company uses forward foreign currency exchange contracts to partially reduce risks related to transactions denominated in foreign currencies. These contracts hedge firm commitments and forecasted transactions relating to cash flows associated with sales and purchases denominated in non-functional currencies. The Company offsets fair value amounts related to foreign currency exchange contracts executed with the same counterparty. Changes in the fair value of forward foreign currency exchange contracts that are effective as hedges are recorded in OCI. Deferred gains or losses are reclassified from OCI to the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the same period as the gains or losses from the underlying transactions are recorded and are generally recognized in cost of sales. The ineffective portion of derivatives that are classified as hedges is immediately recognized in earnings and is also generally recognized in cost of sales.

Certain of the Company's forward foreign currency contracts were designated as net investment hedges of the Company's net investment in its foreign subsidiaries. For derivative instruments that were designated and qualified as a hedge of a net investment in foreign currency, the gain or loss was reported in other comprehensive income as part of the cumulative translation adjustment to the extent it is effective. The Company utilizes the forward-rate method of assessing hedge effectiveness. Any ineffective portion of net investment hedges would be recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the same period as the change.

The Company periodically enters into foreign currency exchange contracts that do not meet the criteria for hedge accounting. These derivatives are used to reduce the Company’s exposure to foreign currency risk related to forecasted purchase or sales transactions or forecasted intercompany cash payments or settlements. Gains and losses on these derivatives are generally recognized in cost of sales. The Company does not currently hold any nonderivative instruments designated as hedges or any derivatives designated as fair value hedges.

The Company has interest rate swap agreements that do not meet the criteria for hedge accounting. The terms of the interest rate swap agreements require the Company to receive a variable interest rate based upon the three-month LIBOR and pay a fixed interest rate. Changes in the fair value of interest rate swap agreements are immediately recognized in earnings and included on the line “Other” in the “Other (income) expense” section of the consolidated statements of operations.

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts held by the Company which qualified as hedges have been designated as hedges of forecasted cash flows.

Cash flows from hedging activities are reported in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in the same classification as the hedged item, generally as a component of cash flows from operations.