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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries. Acquired businesses are included in the consolidated financial statements from the dates of acquisition. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

Cash and cash equivalents

The Company considers highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Restricted cash

The Company's restricted cash is comprised primarily of funds within a voluntary employees' beneficiary trust restricted to the future payment of employee benefit obligations.

Notes receivable

The Company has received bank secured notes from certain of its customers in the PRC to settle trade accounts receivable. These notes generally have maturities of six months or less and are redeemable at the bank of issuance. The Company evaluates the credit risk of the issuing bank prior to accepting a bank secured note from a customer which supports periodic assessment of expected credit losses. Management believes that the probability of material losses related to credit risk on notes receivable is remote.

Accounts receivable

The Company records trade accounts receivable when revenue is recorded in accordance with its revenue recognition policy and relieves accounts receivable when payments are received from customers.

Allowance for credit losses

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, "Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments," which changes accounting requirements for the recognition of credit losses from an incurred or probable impairment methodology to a current expected credit losses (CECL) methodology. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and was adopted effective January 1, 2020. Trade receivables (including the allowance for credit losses) is the only financial instrument in scope for ASU 2016-13 currently held by the Company. In implementing the standard, the Company amended its policy to utilize an expected loss methodology based on credit risk in place of the incurred loss methodology based on aging. The Company's updated policy includes the regular review of its outstanding accounts receivable portfolio to assess risk and likelihood of credit loss. This review includes consideration of potential credit loss over the asset's contractual life, along with historical experience, current conditions and forecasts based on management's judgment. The Company also performs periodic credit evaluations of customers’ financial conditions in order to assess credit worthiness and maintain appropriate credit limits.

Inventories

Inventory costs are determined using the LIFO method for substantially all U.S. inventories. Costs of other inventories have been determined by the first-in, first-out ("FIFO") method. Inventories include direct material, direct labor, and applicable manufacturing and engineering overhead costs. FIFO inventories are valued at cost, which is not in excess of the net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. LIFO inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market.

Long-lived assets, including goodwill and right-of-use assets

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over the following expected useful lives:


Land improvements						10 to 20 years
Buildings						10 to 40 years
Machinery and equipment						5 to 14 years
Furniture and fixtures						5 to 10 years
Molds, cores and rings						4 to 10 years

The Company capitalizes certain internal and external costs incurred to acquire or develop internal-use software. Capitalized software costs are amortized over the estimated useful life of the software, which ranges from one to ten years.

Intangibles with definite lives include trademarks, technology and intellectual property which were fully amortized as of December 31, 2019. Land use rights are amortized over their remaining useful lives, which range from 35 to 42 years.

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASC 842, "Leases," which requires lessees to record right-of-use assets and related lease obligations on the balance sheet, as well as disclose key information regarding leasing arrangements.

The Company evaluates the recoverability of long-lived assets, including property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets for operating and finance leases, based on undiscounted projected cash flows, excluding interest and taxes, when any impairment is indicated. Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles are assessed for potential impairment at least annually or when events or circumstances indicate impairment may have occurred.

Earnings per common share

Net income per share is computed on the basis of the weighted average number of common shares outstanding each year. Diluted earnings per share includes the dilutive effect of stock options and other stock units. The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share:


(Number of shares and dollar amounts in thousands except per share amounts)
	2020		2019		2018
Numerator
Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share - income from continuing operations available to common stockholders	$	142,789	$	96,404	$	76,586
Denominator
Denominator for basic earnings per share - weighted average shares outstanding	50,307		50,159		50,350
Effect of dilutive securities - stock options and other stock units	198		219		247
Denominator for diluted earnings per share - adjusted weighted average shares outstanding	50,505		50,378		50,597
Earnings per share:
Basic	$	2.84	$	1.92	$	1.52
Diluted	2.83		1.91		1.51

At December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, all options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock were included in the computation of diluted earnings per share as the options’ exercise prices were less than the average market price of the common shares.

Derivative financial instruments

Derivative financial instruments are utilized by the Company to reduce foreign currency exchange risks. The Company has established policies and procedures for risk assessment and the approval, reporting and monitoring of derivative financial instrument activities. The Company does not enter into financial instruments for trading or

speculative purposes. The Company offsets fair value amounts recognized on the Consolidated Balance Sheets for derivative financial instruments executed with the same counter-party.

The Company uses foreign currency forward contracts as hedges of the fair value of certain non-U.S. dollar denominated net asset and liability positions. Gains and losses resulting from the impact of currency exchange rate movements on these forward contracts are recognized in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income in the period in which the exchange rates change and offset the foreign currency gains and losses on the underlying exposure being hedged.

Foreign currency forward contracts are also used to hedge variable cash flows associated with forecasted sales and purchases denominated in currencies that are not the functional currency of certain entities. The forward contracts have maturities of less than twelve months pursuant to the Company’s policies and hedging practices. These forward contracts meet the criteria for and have been designated as cash flow hedges. Accordingly, the unrealized gains and losses on such forward contracts are recorded as a separate component of stockholders’ equity in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets and reclassified into earnings as the hedged transaction affects earnings.

The Company is exposed to interest rate risk on borrowings that bear interest at floating rates. The Company utilizes derivative instruments to manage the risk associated with the floating rate debt and has effectively fixed the variable interest rate component on the notional amount of these swaps. The swaps qualify for hedge accounting and, therefore, changes in the fair value of the swaps have been recorded as a separate component of stockholders’ equity in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets and reclassified into earnings as the hedged transaction affects earnings.

The Company assesses hedge effectiveness quarterly. In doing so, the Company monitors the actual and forecasted foreign currency sales and purchases versus the amounts hedged to identify any hedge ineffectiveness. The Company also performs regression analysis comparing the change in value of the hedging contracts versus the underlying foreign currency sales and purchases, which confirms a high correlation and hedge effectiveness.

The Company is exposed to price risk related to forecasted purchases of certain commodities that are used as raw materials, principally natural rubber. Accordingly, it uses commodity contracts with forward pricing for a portion of its production requirements. These contracts generally qualify for the normal purchase exception under guidance for derivative instruments and hedging activities, and therefore are not subject to its provisions.

Income taxes

Income tax expense is based on reported earnings or losses before income taxes in accordance with the tax rules and regulations of the specific legal entities within the various specific taxing jurisdictions where the Company’s income is earned. Taxable income may differ from earnings before income taxes for financial accounting purposes. To the extent that differences are due to revenue or expense items reported in one period for tax purposes and in another period for financial accounting purposes, a provision for deferred income taxes is made using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is recognized if it is anticipated that some or all of a deferred tax asset may not be realized. Deferred income taxes generally are not recorded on the majority of undistributed earnings of international subsidiaries based on the Company’s intention that these earnings will continue to be reinvested. Upon enactment of the Tax Act, the Transition Tax was recorded based on approximately $495 million of unremitted foreign earnings. During 2020, the Company re-evaluated its position on potential earnings repatriation and has concluded that the repatriation implications of the Tax Act continue to have no impact on its indefinite reinvestment assertion, consistent with all years since 2018. As such, no change has been made with respect to that assertion for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Product liability

Pursuant to ASC 450 "Contingencies," the Company accrues the minimum liability for each known claim when the estimated outcome is a range of probable loss and no one amount within that range is more likely than another. For such known claims, the Company accrues the minimum liability because the product liability claims faced by the Company are unique and widely variable, and accordingly, the resolutions of those claims have an enormous amount of variability. The costs have ranged from zero dollars to $33 million in one case with no average that is meaningful.

No specific accrual is made for individual unasserted claims or for premature claims, asserted claims where the minimum information needed to evaluate the probability of a liability is not yet known. However, an accrual is maintained for such claims based, in part, on management’s expectations for future litigation activity and the settled claims history maintained, including the historical number of claims and amount of settlements.

The Company periodically reviews its estimates and any adjustments for changes in reserves are recorded in the period in which the change in estimate occurs. Because of the speculative nature of litigation in the U.S., the Company does not believe a meaningful aggregate range of reasonably possible loss for asserted and unasserted claims can be determined. While the Company believes its reserves are reasonably stated, it is possible an individual claim from time to time may result in an aberration from the norm and could have a material impact.The product liability expense reported by the Company includes amortization of insurance premium costs, adjustments to settlement reserves and legal costs incurred in defending claims against the Company. Legal costs are expensed as incurred and product liability insurance premiums are amortized over coverage periods.

Advertising expense

Expenses incurred for advertising include production and media and are generally expensed when incurred. Costs associated with dealer-earned cooperative advertising are recorded as a reduction of the revenue component of Net sales at the time of sale.

Stock-based compensation

The Company’s incentive compensation plans allow the Company to grant awards to employees in the form of stock options, stock awards, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance stock units, dividend equivalents and other awards. Compensation related to these awards is determined based on the fair value on the date of grant and is amortized to expense over the vesting period. If awards can be settled in cash, these awards are recorded as liabilities and marked to market.

Warranties

Warranties are provided on the sale of certain of the Company’s products and an accrual for estimated future claims is recorded at the time revenue is recognized. Tire replacement under most of the warranties the Company offers is on a prorated basis. The Company provides for the estimated cost of product warranties based primarily on historical return rates, estimates of the eligible tire population and the value of tires to be replaced.

Use of estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of: (1) revenues and expenses during the reporting period; and (2) assets and liabilities, as well as disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, at the date of the consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Revenue recognition

In accordance with ASC 606, revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods and services. Shipping and handling costs are recorded in cost of products sold. Allowance programs such as volume rebates and cash discounts are recorded at the time of sale as a reduction to revenue based on anticipated accrual rates for the yea

Research and development

Costs are charged to Cost of products sold as incurred

Pensions and Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions

The Company provides certain pension and postretirement benefits other than pensions to employees and retired employees, including pensions, postretirement health care benefits, other postretirement benefits, and supplemental pensions. In general, the Company's policy is to fund its pension benefit obligation based on legal requirements, tax and liquidity considerations and local practices. The Company does not fund its postretirement benefit obligation. Plan assets and obligations are measured using various actuarial assumptions, such as discount rates, rate of compensation increase, mortality rates, turnover rates and health care cost trend rates, which are determined as of the current year measurement date. The measurement of net periodic benefit cost is based on various actuarial assumptions, including discount rates, expected

return on plan assets and rate of compensation increase, which are determined as of the prior year measurement date. The Company reviews its actuarial assumptions on an annual basis and modifies these assumptions when appropriate. As required by GAAP, the effects of the modifications are recorded currently or are amortized over future periods.

The expected return on plan assets is determined using the expected long term rate of return. These computed rates of return are reviewed by the Company’s investment advisers and actuaries. Industry comparables and other outside guidance are also considered in the annual selection of the expected rates of return on pension assets.

The corridor approach is used in the valuation of defined benefit pension and postretirement benefit plans. The corridor approach defers all actuarial gains and losses resulting from variances between actual results and actuarial assumptions. Those unrecognized gains and losses are amortized when the net gains and losses exceed 10 percent of the greater of the market-related value of plan assets or the projected benefit obligation at the beginning of the year. The amount in excess of the corridor is amortized over the average remaining service period to retirement date of eligible plan participants.

Tariffs

The Company is subject to tariffs on the import of tires, raw materials and tire-manufacturing equipment in certain of the jurisdictions in which it operates. Tariff costs are included within inventory as they pertain to tires and raw materials, while tariffs on tire-manufacturing equipment are included as part of the cost of fixed assets. Material components of the Company's tariff costs include:

•Passenger Car and Light Truck Tire Tariffs - Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into certain passenger car and light truck tires imported from the PRC into the United States were initiated on July 14, 2014. The determinations announced in both investigations were affirmative and resulted in the imposition of significant additional duties from each. The rates are subject to review annually and a material change in the new rates could have a significant impact on the Company's results.

•Truck and Bus Tire Tariffs – Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into certain TBR tires imported from the PRC into the U.S. were initiated on January 29, 2016. On February 22, 2017, the ITC made a final determination that the U.S. market had not suffered material injury because of imports of TBR tires from the PRC. However, on November 1, 2018, the CIT remanded the case back to the ITC for reconsideration. On January 30, 2019, the ITC reversed its earlier decision and made an affirmative determination of material injury. On February 15, 2019, the determination was published in the Federal Register and countervailing duties of 42.16 percent were imposed on the Company's TBR tire imports into the U.S. from China. The ITC’s re-determination, along with comments from the parties regarding the re-determination, were filed with the CIT. The CIT affirmed the ITC re-determination on February 18, 2020. The rates are subject to review annually and a material change in the new rates could have a significant impact on the Company's results.

•Section 301 Tariffs - Pursuant to Section 301: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation, passenger, light truck and truck and bus tires, raw materials and tire-manufacturing equipment from the PRC imported into the U.S. became subject to additional 10 percent duties effective September 24, 2018. These tariffs increased to 25 percent effective May 10, 2019.

•Duty Drawbacks - The enactment in December 2018 of the Modernized Drawback Final Rule under the Trade Enforcement and Trade Facilitation Act of 2015 expanded the Company's ability to recover Section 301 and Ad Valorem duties paid on goods imported into the U.S. when such goods, or similar items, are subsequently exported.

Recent accounting pronouncements

Each change to U.S. GAAP is established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) in the form of an accounting standards update (“ASU”) to the FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”). The Company considers the applicability and impact of all ASUs.

Accounting Pronouncements – Recently adopted

Fair Value Measurement

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, "Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820)," which removes, modifies and adds various disclosure requirements around the topic in order to clarify and improve the cost-benefit nature of disclosures. Such modifications to disclosures center around Level 3 fair value measurements and investments in entities that calculate net asset value. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and has been adopted by the Company effective January 1, 2020. The adoption of this standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Internal-Use Software

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, "Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40)," which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a service contract hosting arrangement with those of developing or obtaining internal-use software. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and has been adopted prospectively by the Company effective January 1, 2020. Capitalization of implementation costs incurred in a service contract hosting arrangement affects Intangibles, net of accumulated amortization, Cost of products sold, and Selling, general, and administrative expense within the consolidated financial statements. The adoption of this standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Accounting for Income Taxes

On December 18, 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes," to, among other provisions, eliminate certain exceptions related to intra-period tax allocation and loss benefit limitations in interim periods, as well as certain rules pertaining to deferred taxes for equity method investees. This ASU also simplifies rules pertaining to franchise taxes and other taxes partially based on income, and changes the timing of when an entity recognizes effects of enacted tax law changes. This standard becomes effective in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020; however, the Company chose to early adopt as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of this standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Defined Benefit Plans

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, "Compensation – Retirement Benefits – Defined Benefit Plans – General (Subtopic 715-20)," which removes, modifies and adds various disclosure requirements around the topic in order to clarify and improve the cost-benefit nature of disclosures. For example, disclosures around the effect of a one-percentage-point change in assumed health care costs was removed. This standard is effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2020. These amendments must be applied on a retrospective basis for all periods presented. The adoption of this standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated financial statements and is reflected in Note 11 "Pensions and Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions."

Reference Rate Reform

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848)," which provides optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. The Company will utilize optional expediencies under ASC 848 on their cash flow designated hedges during LIBOR transition to continue to assess future LIBOR interest as probable beyond LIBOR’s termination, to document changes to critical terms of the derivative and the borrowings related to reference rate reform and to make changes to effectiveness assessments related to reference rate reform without dedesignating the hedge relationships. The adoption of this standard did not materially impact the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Product Liability Claims

The Company accrues costs for asserted product liability claims at the time a loss is probable and the amount of loss can be estimated. The Company believes the probability of loss can be established and the amount of loss can be estimated only after certain minimum information is available, including verification that Company-produced product was involved in the incident giving rise to the claim, the condition of the product purported to be involved in the claim, the nature of the incident giving rise to the claim and the extent of the purported injury or damages. In cases where such information is known, each product liability claim is evaluated based on its specific facts and circumstances. A judgment is then made to determine the requirement for establishment or revision of an accrual for any potential liability. Adjustments to estimated reserves are recorded in the period in which the change in estimate occurs. The liability often cannot be determined with precision until the claim is resolved.Pursuant to ASC 450 "Contingencies," the Company accrues the minimum liability for each known claim when the estimated outcome is a range of probable loss and no one amount within that range is more likely than another. For such known claims, the Company accrues the minimum liability because the product liability claims faced by the Company are unique and widely variable, and accordingly, the resolutions of those claims have an enormous amount of variability.