Revenue Recognition - Disaggregation of net sales (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		$ 1,460	$ 1,687
Acetyl Chain
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales	[1]	768	858
Engineered Materials
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		563	663
Acetate Tow
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		129	166
Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales	[2]	(31)	(31)
Intersegment Eliminations [Member] | Acetyl Chain
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		31	31
North America [Member] | Acetyl Chain
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		274	286
North America [Member] | Engineered Materials
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		162	196
North America [Member] | Acetate Tow
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		21	34
Europe and Africa [Member] | Acetyl Chain
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		266	294
Europe and Africa [Member] | Engineered Materials
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		260	302
Europe and Africa [Member] | Acetate Tow
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		71	63
Asia Pacific [Member] | Acetyl Chain
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		207	256
Asia Pacific [Member] | Engineered Materials
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		123	148
Asia Pacific [Member] | Acetate Tow
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		32	60
South America [Member] | Acetyl Chain
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		21	22
South America [Member] | Engineered Materials
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		18	17
South America [Member] | Acetate Tow
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]
Net sales		$ 5	$ 9

[1] Excludes intersegment sales of $31 million and $31 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

[2] Includes intersegment sales primarily related to the Acetyl Chain.