Income before income taxes and the provision for income taxes, for the three years ended December 31, 2018, were as follows:

(In millions)	2018		2017			2016
Income before income taxes:
U.S.	$	222.9	$	155.5		$	149.1
International		110.6		167.7			188.5
Total income before income taxes	$	333.5	$	323.2		$	337.6

Provision for income taxes:
Current:
U.S.	$	18.3	$	18.9		$	(9.5	)
International		14.9		20.3			37.1
Current provision for income taxes		33.2		39.2			27.6
Deferred:
U.S.		26.8		(1.9	)		54.3
International		2.5		5.2			8.4
Deferred provision for income taxes		29.3		3.3			62.7
Total provision for income taxes	$	62.5	$	42.5		$	90.3

A reconciliation of the provision for income taxes at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 21% to the effective income tax rate, for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 35% for the two years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, is as follows:

(In millions)	2018			2017			2016
Provision for taxes at U.S. federal statutory rate	$	70.0		$	113.1		$	118.2
State and local taxes, net of federal benefit		7.2			0.2			3.1
Foreign effective rate differential		4.6			(14.4	)		(26.8	)
Tax credits		(7.8	)		(16.0	)		(10.1	)
Change in valuation allowance		(3.4	)		(9.1	)		10.4
Remeasurement of deferred taxes		(9.0	)		(67.8	)	—
Transition tax on undistributed foreign earnings		1.6			45.7		—
Excess tax benefits on stock based compensation		(4.6	)		(7.6	)		(2.8	)
Other		(0.5	)		4.9			4.9
Release of reserves for uncertain tax positions		(1.3	)		(6.5	)		(6.6	)
Global intangible low taxed income		5.7		—			—
Total provision for income taxes	$	62.5		$	42.5		$	90.3

The Act was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Act reduces the US federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% in 2018, requires companies to pay a one-time transition tax on earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries that were previously tax deferred and creates new taxes on certain foreign-sourced earnings. At December 31, 2018, we have completed our accounting for the tax effects of enactment of the Act, without any material adjustments to our previous estimate of the one-time transition tax.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities: As of December 31, 2018 we remeasured certain U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, which is generally 21%. The provisional amount recorded in 2017 related to the remeasurement of our deferred tax balance resulted in a tax benefit of $67.8 million partially offset by a $45.7 million increase in income tax expense related to our one-time transition tax liability for all of our controlled foreign corporations, resulting in an increase in provisional tax benefit of $22.1 million. The tax due on unremitted earnings will be paid over 8 years, as permitted by the Act. As of December 31, 2018, we recorded a benefit of $7.8 million for the remeasurement of certain deferred tax balances, which is included as a component of income tax expense. The adjustment of our deferred tax balances reduced our effective tax rate for 2018 by 2.3% and 2017 by 6.8%.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, no additional income or withholding taxes have been provided for any undistributed foreign earnings. We do not currently have any specific plans to repatriate funds from our international subsidiaries; however, we may do so in the future if a dividend can be remitted with no material tax impact. As of December 31, 2018, we have approximately $947 million of unremitted foreign earnings that we intend to keep indefinitely reinvested. Additionally, due to withholding tax, basis computations and other tax related considerations, it is not practicable to estimate any taxes to be provided on outside basis differences at this time.

Deferred income taxes result from tax attributes including foreign tax credits, net operating loss carryforwards and temporary differences between the recognition of items for income tax purposes and financial reporting purposes. Principal components of deferred income taxes as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 are:

(In millions)	2018			2017
Assets
Net operating loss carryforwards	$	67.8		$	65.1
Unfunded pension liability and other postretirement obligations	1.7			0.5
ASC 606 - revenue from contracts with customers	9.3			—
Tax credit carryforwards	8.1				10.8
Stock based compensation	8.4			7.1
Other comprehensive income	4.1			0.2
Reserves and other	15.6			13.5
Subtotal		115.0		97.2
Valuation allowance		(48.8	)		(54.9	)
Total assets	$	66.2		$	42.3
Liabilities
Accelerated depreciation		(163.0	)		(144.1	)
Accelerated amortization		(11.8	)		(11.3	)
Other		(4.0	)		(1.3	)
Total liabilities	$	(178.8	)	$	(156.7	)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(112.6	)	$	(114.4	)

Deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities as presented in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 are as follows and are recorded in prepaid expenses and other current assets, deferred tax assets, other accrued liabilities and other non-current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets:

The deferred tax assets for the respective periods were assessed for recoverability and, where applicable, a valuation allowance was recorded to reduce the total deferred tax asset to an amount that will, more likely than not, be realized in the future. The valuation allowance as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 relates primarily to net operating loss carryforwards of our foreign subsidiaries for which we have determined, based upon historical results and projected future book and taxable income levels, that a valuation allowance should continue to be maintained. The net change in the total valuation allowance for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, was a decrease of $6.1 million and $4.0 million, respectively.

Although realization is not assured, we have concluded that it is more-likely-than-not that the deferred tax assets, for which a valuation allowance was determined to be unnecessary, will be realized in the ordinary course of operations based on the available positive and negative evidence, including scheduling of deferred tax liabilities and projected income from operating activities. The amount of the net deferred tax assets considered realizable, however, could be reduced in the near term if actual future income or income tax rates are lower than estimated, or if there are differences in the timing or amount of future reversals of existing taxable or deductible temporary differences.

At December 31, 2018, we had tax credit carryforwards for U.S. tax purposes of $8.1 million available to offset future income taxes. These credits will begin to expire if not utilized in 2019. We also had net operating loss carryforwards for U.S. state and foreign income tax purposes of $11.5 million and $249.2 million, respectively, for which there were foreign valuation allowances of $178.0 million as of December 31, 2018. Our foreign net operating losses can be carried forward without limitation in Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and the U.K. The carryforward period in China is limited to 5 years. We have a partial valuation allowance against certain foreign net operating losses for which the Company believes it is not more likely than not that the net operating losses will be utilized.

Our unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2018, relate to various foreign and U.S. jurisdictions.

The following table summarizes the activity related to our unrecognized tax benefits.

	Unrecognized Tax Benefits
(In millions)	2018			2017			2016
Balance as of January 1,	$	12.3		$	16.7		$	25.3
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		1.1			5.3			7.3
(Reductions) additions for tax positions of prior years		(5.7	)		(6.1	)		(11.1	)
Expiration of the statute of limitations for the assessment of taxes		(0.3	)		(4.8	)		(4.2	)
Other, including currency translation		0.1			1.2			(0.6	)
Balance as of December 31,	$	7.5		$	12.3		$	16.7

Included in the unrecognized tax benefits of $7.5 million at December 31, 2018 was $6.1 million of tax benefits that, if recognized, would impact our annual effective tax rate. In addition, we recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of interest expense and penalties as a component of income tax expense in the consolidated statements of operations. We recognized $0.3 million and $1.1 million of interest expense and penalties related to the above unrecognized tax benefits in 2017 and 2016, respectively, and did not recognize any interest expense in 2018. We had accrued interest of approximately $0.2 million and $0.8 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. During 2018, we reversed $0.6 million of interest related to unrecognized tax benefits.

We are subject to taxation in the U.S. and various states and foreign jurisdictions. The U.S. tax returns have been audited through 2013. Foreign and U.S. state jurisdictions have statutes of limitations generally ranging from 3 to 5 years. Years that are still open to examination in our major jurisdictions include the U.S. (2014 onward), Austria (2016 onward), Belgium (2013 onward), France (2016 onward), Spain (2013 onward) and the U.K. (2016 onward). We are currently under examination in the U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions.

As of December 31, 2018, we had uncertain tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that amounts of unrecognized tax benefits could significantly change over the next year. These uncertain tax positions relate to our tax returns from 2010 onward, some of which are currently under examination by certain U.S. and European tax authorities. We believe it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits disclosed as of December 31, 2018 may decrease approximately $0.4 million to $1.3 million in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019. Such possible decrease primarily relates to audit settlements and the expiration of statutes of limitation.