Table of Contents The following table summarizes the 2017 and 2018 employee separation activity: Most of the remaining liability balance as of December 31, 2018 is expected to be paid in 2019. In March 2017, Caterpillar informed Belgian authorities of the decision to proceed to a collective dismissal, which led to the closure of the Gosselies site, impacting about 2,000 employees. Production of Caterpillar products at the Gosselies site ended during the second quarter of 2017. The other operations and functions at the Gosselies site were phased out by the end of the second quarter of 2018. The program concluded in 2018, and we incurred a total of $647 million of restructuring costs (primarily in 2017) under the program. Those costs were primarily related to employee separation costs, long-lived asset impairments, and other costs which were partially offset by a LIFO inventory decrement benefit. Restructuring costs for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $1,019 million. Throughout 2016, we initiated the following restructuring plans: In September 2015, we announced a large scale restructuring plan (the Plan) including a voluntary retirement enhancement program for qualifying U.S. employees, several voluntary separation programs outside of the U.S., additional involuntary programs throughout the company and manufacturing facility consolidations and closures that occurred through 2018. The largest action among those included in the Plan was related to our European manufacturing footprint which led to the Gosselies, Belgium, facility, closure as discussed above. We incurred $121 million, $817 million and $281 million of restructuring costs associated with these actions in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Total restructuring costs incurred since inception of the Plan were $1,788 million. The remaining costs of approximately $50 million related to the Plan are expected to be recognized in 2019. 149 • In February 2016, we made the decision to discontinue production of on-highway vocational trucks. Based on the business climate in the truck industry and a thorough evaluation of the business, the company decided it would withdraw from this market. We recognized $104 million of restructuring costs, primarily related to long-lived asset impairments and sales discounts. • In the second half of 2016, we took additional restructuring actions in Resource Industries, including ending the production of track drills; pursuing strategic alternatives related to room and pillar products; consolidation of two product development divisions; and additional actions in response to ongoing weakness in the mining industry. For the year ended December 31, 2016, we incurred $369 million of restructuring costs for these plans primarily related to long-lived asset impairments, employee separation costs and inventory write-downs. (Millions of dollars) Liability balance at December 31, 2016 $ 147 Increase in liability (separation charges) 525 Reduction in liability (payments) (423) Liability balance at December 31, 2017 $ 249 Increase in liability (separation charges) 112 Reduction in liability (payments) (276) Liability balance at December 31, 2018 $ 85