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Product Warranty
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Guarantees and Indemnifications

We offer warranties on the sale of most of our products and record an accrual for estimated future claims. Such accruals are based upon historical experience and management’s estimate of the level of future claims. The activity in warranty reserves for the last three years is summarized in the following table. 
  
Year ended December 31,
Dollar amounts in millions
2019
 
2018
Beginning balance
$
14

 
$
25

Accrued to expense during the year
1

 
1

Accrued/ (credited) to other operating credits and charges
(4
)
 
(8
)
Accrued to discontinued operations
—

 
5

Foreign currency translation
—

 
—

Payments made
(3
)
 
(9
)
Total warranty reserves
8

 
14

Current portion of warranty reserves
(2
)
 
(3
)
Long term portion of warranty reserves
$
6

 
$
11



The current portion of the warranty reserve is included in “Accounts payable and accrued liabilities,” and the long-term portion is included in “Other long-term liabilities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

We changed the warranty reserves related to CanExel® products sold in certain geographic areas for a specific time period, reducing our warranty reserve by $4 million and $8 million in 2019 and 2018, respectively. The changes to the reserve reflected revised estimates of future claims.

We increased the warranty reserves related to discontinued composite decking products by $5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The additional reserves reflected revised estimates of future claim payments based upon an increase in decking warranty claims.

We believe that the warranty reserve balances at December 31, 2019, are adequate to cover future warranty payments. However, it is possible that additional charges may be required.