Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

The components of net periodic benefit cost were as follows:


	First quarter ended
	March 31,
	2020		2019
Pension benefits
Service cost	$	7	$	7
Interest cost	47		59
Expected return on plan assets	(70)		(72)
Recognized net actuarial loss	42		35

Settlements	—		2


Net periodic benefit cost⁽¹⁾	$	26	$	31

Other postretirement benefits
Service cost	$	1	$	2
Interest cost	6		7
Recognized net actuarial loss	2		1
Amortization of prior service cost (benefit)	(2)		(1)
Curtailments	—		(58)

Net periodic benefit cost⁽¹⁾	$	7	$	(49)

⁽¹⁾Service cost was included within Cost of goods sold, Selling, general administrative, and other expenses, and Research and development expenses; settlements and curtailments were included in Restructuring and other charges; and all other cost components were recorded in Other expense, net in the Statement of Consolidated Operations.

In the first quarter of 2019, the Company communicated to plan participants that for its U.S. salaried and non-bargained hourly retirees of the Company and its subsidiaries, it would eliminate the life insurance benefit effective May 1, 2019, and certain health care subsidies effective December 31, 2019. As a result of these changes, in the first quarter of 2019, the Company recorded a decrease to the Accrued other postretirement benefits liability of $75, which was offset by a curtailment benefit of $58 in Restructuring and other charges and $17 in Accumulated other comprehensive loss.

In the first quarter of 2019, the Company applied settlement accounting to U.S. pension plans due to lump sum payments to participants which resulted in settlement charges of $2 that were recorded in Restructuring and other charges.