Recent Accounting Developments Schedule or Prospective Adoption of New Accounting Standard Tables (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018		Sep. 30, 2018		Jun. 30, 2018		Mar. 31, 2018		Dec. 31, 2017		Sep. 30, 2017		Jun. 30, 2017		Mar. 31, 2017		Dec. 31, 2018		Dec. 31, 2017		Dec. 31, 2016
Item Effected [Line Items]
NET SALES	$ 5,951		$ 5,901		$ 5,833		$ 5,621		$ 5,711		$ 5,517		$ 5,383		$ 5,132		$ 23,306	[1]	$ 21,743	[1]	$ 19,495	[1]
Cost of products sold																	15,555		14,802		13,419
Distribution expenses																	1,567		1,434		1,237
Income tax provision (benefit), net																	445		(1,085)		193
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations																	1,672		2,110		800
Net earnings (loss)																	$ 2,017		$ 2,144		$ 902
Basic	$ 0.79	[2],[3],[4]	$ 1.38	[2],[3],[4]	$ 0.98	[2],[3],[4]	$ 1.76	[2],[3],[4]	$ 3.54	[5],[6],[7]	$ 0.96	[5],[6],[7]	$ 0.19	[5],[6],[7]	$ 0.51	[5],[6],[7]	$ 4.91	[2],[3],[4]	$ 5.19	[5],[6],[7]	$ 2.20
Diluted	$ 0.78	[2],[3],[4]	$ 1.37	[2],[3],[4]	$ 0.97	[2],[3],[4]	$ 1.74	[2],[3],[4]	$ 3.50	[5],[6],[7]	$ 0.95	[5],[6],[7]	$ 0.19	[5],[6],[7]	$ 0.50	[5],[6],[7]	$ 4.85	[2],[3],[4]	$ 5.13	[5],[6],[7]	$ 2.18
Contract assets	$ 395								$ 0								$ 395		$ 0
Inventories	2,241								2,313								2,241		2,313
Other current assets	250								282								250		282
Other accrued liabilities	1,107								1,043								1,107		1,043
Deferred income taxes	2,600								2,291								2,600		2,291
Retained earnings	7,465								$ 6,180								7,465		6,180
Deferred income tax provision (benefit), net																	133		(1,113)		$ 136
Increase (Decrease) in Contract with Customer, Asset																	(32)		0		0
Inventories																	(236)		87		(11)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities																	151		114		98
Other																	28		$ 60		$ (15)
Balances Without Adoption of ASC 606
Item Effected [Line Items]
NET SALES																	23,274
Cost of products sold																	15,535
Distribution expenses																	1,563
Income tax provision (benefit), net																	443
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations																	1,666
Net earnings (loss)																	$ 2,011
Basic																	$ 4.90
Diluted																	$ 4.84
Contract assets	0																$ 0
Inventories	2,511																2,511
Other current assets	278																278
Other accrued liabilities	1,088																1,088
Deferred income taxes	2,601																2,601
Retained earnings	7,386																7,386
Deferred income tax provision (benefit), net																	159
Increase (Decrease) in Contract with Customer, Asset																	0
Inventories																	(256)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities																	147
Other																	0
Impact of Adoption Increase/(Decrease)
Item Effected [Line Items]
NET SALES																	32
Cost of products sold																	20
Distribution expenses																	4
Income tax provision (benefit), net																	2
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations																	6
Net earnings (loss)																	$ 6
Basic																	$ 0.01
Diluted																	$ 0.01
Contract assets	395																$ 395
Inventories	(270)																(270)
Other current assets	(28)																(28)
Other accrued liabilities	19																19
Deferred income taxes	(1)																(1)
Retained earnings	$ 79																79
Deferred income tax provision (benefit), net																	(26)
Increase (Decrease) in Contract with Customer, Asset																	(32)
Inventories																	20
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities																	4
Other																	$ 28

[1] Net sales are attributed to countries based on the location of the seller.

[2] Includes the following pre-tax charges (gains): 2018In millions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4North American Consumer Packaging transaction costs $23 $2 $— $—North American Consumer Packaging gain on transfer (516) 28 — —Total $(493) $30 $— $—

[3] Includes the following pre-tax charges (gains): 2018In millions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4Smurfit-Kappa acquisition proposal costs $— $12 $— $—Legal settlement 9 — — —Litigation settlement recovery — — — (5)Environmental remediation reserve adjustment — — 9 —EMEA Packaging optimization 22 26 — (1)Abandoned property removal 9 9 6 8Riverdale mill conversion costs — — 5 4Brazil Packaging impairment — — 122 —Debt extinguishment costs — — — 10Gain on sale of investment in Liaison Technologies — — — (31)Non-operating pension expense 4 36 25 429Total $44 $83 $167 $414

[4] Includes the following tax expenses (benefits): 2018In millions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4State income tax legislative changes $— $9 $— $—Tax benefit of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — — (36) —International investment restructuring — — — 19Foreign tax audits — — — 25Tax impact of other special items (9) (13) (46) 3Tax impact of non-operating pension expense (1) (9) (6) (107)Total $(10) $(13) $(88) $(60)

[5] Includes the following pre-tax charges (gains): 2017In millions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4Gain on sale of investment in ArborGen $— $(14) $— $—Costs associated with the pulp business acquired in 2016 4 5 6 18Amortization of Weyerhaeuser inventory fair value step-up 14 — — —Holmen bargain purchase gain (6) — — —Abandoned property removal 2 5 7 6Kleen Products settlement — 354 — —Asia Foodservice sale — 9 — —Brazil Packaging wood supply accelerated amortization — — 10 —Debt extinguishment costs — — — 83Interest income on income tax refund claims — (4) — (1)Other items — (2) — —Non-operating pension expense 31 34 33 386Total $45 $387 $56 $492

[6] Includes the following tax expenses (benefits): 2017In millions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4International legal entity restructuring $15 $— $19 $—Income tax refund claims — (85) — (28)Cash pension contribution — 38 — —International tax law change — — — 9Tax benefit of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — — — (1,222)Tax impact of other special items (8) (137) (8) (41)Tax impact of non-operating pension expense (12) (13) (13) (148)Total $(5) $(197) $(2) $(1,430)

[7] ncludes the operating earnings of the North American Consumer Packaging business for the full year. Also includes the following pre-tax charges (gains): 2017In millions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4North American Consumer Packaging transaction costs $— $— $— $17Non-operating pension expense — — — 45Total $— $— $— $62