Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Accounting [Policy Text Block]

Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying unaudited interim Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America ("GAAP") for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair statement of the results for interim periods have been included.  Results for interim periods should not be considered indicative of results for a full year.  These interim Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto contained in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, collectively referred to as the “2018 Annual Report.”  The interim Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the company and all of its subsidiaries in which a controlling interest is maintained.

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation [Policy Text Block]

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

DowDuPont Inc. ("DowDuPont") was formed on December 9, 2015 to effect an all-stock, merger of equals strategic combination between The Dow Chemical Company ("Historical Dow") and Historical DuPont (the "Merger Transaction"). On August 31, 2017 at 11:59 pm ET, (the "Merger Effectiveness Time") pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 11, 2015, as amended on March 31, 2017 (the "Merger Agreement"), Historical Dow and Historical DuPont each merged with wholly owned subsidiaries of DowDuPont ("Mergers") and, as a result of the Mergers, Historical Dow and Historical DuPont became subsidiaries of DowDuPont (collectively, the "Merger"). Prior to the Merger, DowDuPont did not conduct any business activities other than those required for its formation and matters contemplated by the Merger Agreement. DowDuPont intends to pursue, subject to certain customary conditions, including, among others, the effectiveness of registration statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and approval by the Board of Directors of DowDuPont, the separation of the combined company's agriculture business, specialty products business and materials science business through a series of tax-efficient transactions (collectively, the "Intended Business Separations" and the transactions to accomplish the Intended Business Separations, the "separations").

Intended Business Separations [Policy Text Block]

On February 26, 2018, DowDuPont announced the corporate brand names that each company plans to assume once the Intended Business Separations occur. Materials science is called Dow, agriculture will be called Corteva^TM Agriscience, and specialty products will be called DuPont.

Effective as of 5:00 pm ET on April 1, 2019, DowDuPont completed the previously announced separation of its materials science business into a separate and independent public company by way of a distribution of Dow Inc. (“Dow”) through a pro rata dividend in-kind of all of the then-issued and outstanding shares of Dow’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Dow Common Stock”), to holders of DowDuPont's common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “DowDuPont Common Stock”), as of the close of business on March 21, 2019 (the “Dow Distribution”). DowDuPont expects to complete the previously announced intended separation of its agriculture business into a separate and independent public company on June 1, 2019 by way of a distribution of Corteva, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of DowDuPont (“Corteva”), through a pro rata dividend in-kind of all of the then-issued and outstanding shares of Corteva’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to holders of DowDuPont Common Stock as of a record date to be set by DowDuPont’s Board of Directors (the “Corteva Distribution” and, together with the Dow Distribution, the “Distributions”). Refer to Notes 3 and 18 for additional information.

Related Party Transactions [Policy Text Block]

Transactions between Historical DuPont and DowDuPont, Historical Dow and their affiliates and other associated companies are reflected in the Consolidated Financial Statements and disclosed as related party transactions when material. Related party transactions with Historical Dow and DowDuPont are included in Note 6.

Discontinued Operations, Policy [Policy Text Block]

As a condition of the regulatory approval for the Merger Transaction, the company was required to divest certain assets related to its crop protection business and research and development ("R&D") organization, specifically the company’s Cereal Broadleaf Herbicides and Chewing Insecticides portfolios, including Rynaxypyr®, Cyazypyr® and Indoxacarb as well as the crop protection R&D pipeline and organization, excluding seed treatment, nematicides, and late-stage R&D programs. On March 31, 2017, the company entered into a definitive agreement (the "FMC Transaction Agreement") with FMC Corporation ("FMC"). Under the FMC Transaction Agreement, FMC would acquire the crop protection business and R&D assets that Historical DuPont was required to divest in order to obtain European Commission ("EC") approval of the Merger Transaction as described above, (the "Divested Ag Business") and Historical DuPont agreed to acquire certain assets relating to FMC’s Health and Nutrition segment, excluding its Omega-3 products (the "H&N Business") (collectively, the "FMC Transactions").

On November 1, 2017, the company completed the FMC Transactions through the disposition of the Divested Ag Business and the acquisition of the H&N Business. The sale of the Divested Ag Business meets the criteria for discontinued operations and as such, results of operations are presented as discontinued operations and have been excluded from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018. The comprehensive income and cash flows related to the Divested Ag Business have not been segregated and are included in the interim Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income and interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2018. Amounts related to the Divested Ag Business are consistently included or excluded from the Notes to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements based on the respective financial statement line item. See Note 3 for additional information.

Lessee, Leases [Policy Text Block]

The company has updated its leasing policy since the issuance of its 2018 Annual Report as a result of the adoption of ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) in the first quarter 2019. See Notes 2 and 11 for additional information. See Note 1, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies," in the 2018 Annual Report for more information on Historical DuPont's other significant accounting policies.

Leases

The company determines whether an arrangement is a lease at the inception of the arrangement based on the terms and conditions in the contract. A contract contains a lease if there is an identified asset and the company has the right to control the asset. Operating lease right-of-use ("ROU") assets are included in other assets on the company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. Operating lease liabilities are included in accrued and other current liabilities and other noncurrent obligations on the company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. Finance lease assets are included in property, plant and equipment on the company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. Finance lease liabilities are included in short-term borrowings and finance lease obligations and long-term debt on the company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.  

Operating lease ROU assets represent the company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As most of the company’s leases do not provide the lessor's implicit rate, the company uses its incremental borrowing rate at the commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. Lease terms include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain those options will be exercised. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet. The company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

The company has lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, which are accounted for as a single lease component for all asset classes. In the Consolidated Statements of Operations, lease expense for operating lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For finance leases, interest expense is recognized on the lease liability and the ROU asset is amortized over the lease term.

The company has operating and finance leases for real estate, airplanes, railcars, fleet, certain machinery and equipment, and information technology assets. The company’s leases have remaining lease terms of 1 year to 50 years. For purposes of calculating operating lease liabilities, lease terms may be deemed to include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that the company will exercise that option. Some leasing arrangements require variable payments that are dependent on usage, output, or may vary for other reasons, such as insurance and tax payments.