The Company’s reporting segments consist of the Electrical and the Power segments, as described below. See also Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis – “Executive Overview of the Business”, and “Results of Operations” as well as Note 20 — Industry Segments and Geographic Area Information in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

These products are primarily sold through electrical and industrial distributors, home centers, retail and hardware outlets, lighting showrooms and residential product oriented internet sites. Special application products are primarily sold through wholesale distributors to contractors, industrial customers and original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”). High voltage products are sold primarily by direct sales to customers through our sales engineers.

Hubbell maintains a sales and marketing organization to assist potential users with the application of certain products to their specific requirements, and withas well as to assist architects, engineers, industrial designers, OEMs and electrical contractors forin the design of electrical systems to meet the specific requirements of industrial, non-residential and residential users. Hubbell is also represented by independent manufacturers’ sales agents for many of its product offerings.

Raw materials used in the manufacture of Hubbell products primarily include steel, aluminum, brass, copper, bronze, zinc, nickel, plastics, phenolics, elastomers and petrochemicals. Hubbell also purchases certain electrical and electronic components, including solenoids, lighting ballasts, printed circuit boards, integrated circuit chips and cord sets, from a number of suppliers. Hubbell is not materially dependent upon any one supplier for raw materials used in the manufacture of its products and equipment and, at the present time, raw materials and components essential to its operation are in adequate supply. However, some of these principal raw materials are sourced from a limited number of suppliers. See also Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk. 

The Company is subject to various federal, state and local government requirements relating to the protection of employee health and safety and the environment. The Company believes that, as a general matter, its policies, practices and procedures are properly designed to prevent unreasonable risk of environmental damage and personal injury to its employees and its customers’ employees and that the handling, manufacture, use and disposal of hazardous or toxic substances are in accordance with environmental laws and regulations.

Like other companies engaged in similar businesses, the Company has incurred or acquired through business combinations, remedial response and voluntary cleanup costs for site contamination, and is a party to product liability and other lawsuits and claims associated with environmental matters, including past production of product containing toxic substances. Additional lawsuits, claims and costs involving environmental matters are likely to continue to arise in the future. However, considering past experience and reserves, the Company does not anticipate that these matters will have a material impactadverse affect on earnings, capital expenditures, financial condition or competitive position. See also Item 1A. Risk Factors and Note 15 — Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. 

As of December 31, 2018,2019, Hubbell had approximately 19,70018,800 salaried and hourly employees of which approximately 10,40010,300 of these employees, or 53%, are located in the United States. Approximately 2,6002,500 of these U.S. employees are represented by 12 labor unions. Hubbell considers its labor relations to be satisfactory.

Achieving our long-term profitability goals depends significantly on our ability to control or reduce our operating costs. Because many of our costs are affected by factors outside,completely, or substantially outside our control, we generally must seek to control or reduce costs through productivity initiatives. If we are not able to identify and implement initiatives that control or reduce costs and increase operating efficiency, or if the cost savings initiatives we have implemented to date do not generate expected cost savings, our financial results could be adversely impacted.affected. Our efforts to control or reduce costs may include restructuring activities involving workforce reductions, facility consolidations and other cost reduction initiatives. If we do not successfully manage our current restructuring activities, or any other restructuring activities that we may undertake in the future, expected efficiencies and benefits may be delayed or not realized, and our operations and business could be disrupted.

Part of the Company’s growth strategy involves acquisitions. We have pursued and will continue to seek acquisitions and other strategic investments to complement and expand our existing businesses. The rate and extent to which acquisitions become available may impactaffect our growth rate. The success of these transactions will depend on our ability to integrate these businesses into our operations and realize the planned synergies. We may encounter difficulties in integrating acquisitions into our operations and in managing strategic investments and foreign acquisitions and joint ventures may also present additional risk related to the integration of operations across different cultures and languages. Failure to effectively complete or manage acquisitions may adversely affect our existing businesses as well as our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The full benefits of the Aclara Acquisition,acquisition, including the anticipated sales or growth opportunities, may not be realized as expected or may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame, or at all. Failure to achieve the anticipated benefits of the Aclara Acquisitionacquisition could adversely affect our results of operations or cash flows and decrease or delay the expected accretive effect of the Aclara Acquisition.

Hubbell also provides customers with solutions that include software components that allow for the control and/or the communication of data from those solutions to Hubbell or customer systems. In addition to the risks noted above, there are other risks associated with these solutions. For example, control and/or data from these solutions may be integral to a customer's operations. A failure of our technology to operate as designed or as a result of cyber threats could impact those operations, including by loss or destruction of data. Likewise, a customer’s failure to properly configure its own network are outside of the Company’s control and could result in a failure in functionality or security of our technology.

Hubbell is also subject to an increasing number of evolving data privacy and security laws and regulations that impose requirements on the Company and our technology prior to certain use or transfer, storing, processing, disclosure, and protection of data and prior to sale or use of certain technologies. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in the imposition of fines, penalties and other costs. For example, the European Union’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018, the European Union’s pending ePrivacy Regulation, and California’s implementation of its Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and Connected Device Privacy Act of 2018 all could disrupt our ability to sell products and solutions or use and transfer data because such activities may not be in compliance with applicable law in certain jurisdictions.

On December 22, 2017 Public Law 115-97 “An Act to Provide Reconciliation Pursuant to Titles II and V of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2018” was enacted. This law is commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 ("TCJA"). The TCJA significantly changed the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, including taxation of U.S. corporations, by, among other things, reducing the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate, limiting the availability of previously claimed deductions, taxing certain activities and transactions not previously subject to U.S. tax and imposing a mandatory deemed repatriation tax on certain undistributed earnings and profits of U.S.-owned foreign corporations. Throughout 2018 and 2019, the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued numerous and complex proposed and final regulations, and related guidance on various aspects of the TCJA. However, many of the provisions of TCJA remain unclear and subject to interpretation. The legislation also remains subject to potential amendments and technical corrections, any of which could lessen or increase certain impacts of the legislation. Further, state taxing authorities continue to evaluate the impact of TCJA and enact legislation and issue guidance on the state impacts of TCJA. See Note 13 — Income Taxes in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of the legislation remains uncertain and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.

The U.S. government has announced and, in some cases, implemented a new approach to trade policy, including renegotiating, or potentially terminating, certain existing bilateral or multi-lateral trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA") or its anticipated successor agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is still subject to approvalformal ratification by the United States Mexico and Canada, and proposed trade agreements, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP"), from which the United States has formally withdrawn, from, as well as implementing the imposition of additional tariffs on certain foreign goods, including finished products and raw materials such as steel and aluminum. Changes in the U.S. trade policy, U.S. social, political, regulatory and economic conditions or in laws and policies governing foreign trade, manufacturing, development and investment in the territories and countries where we currently manufacture and sell products, and any resulting negative sentiments towards the United States as a result of such changes, could have an adverse effect on our business.

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (“EU”) (commonly referred to as “Brexit”). As a result of the referendum, a complex and uncertain process of negotiation is now takinghas taken place which to determinedate has not resulted in a definitive agreement to establish the future terms of the UK’s relationship with the EU withor other countries. Notwithstanding, the UK currently due to exitexited the EU on March 29, 2019.January 31, 2020 under a transitional arrangement scheduled to remain in place until the end of 2020. The transitional arrangement is intended primarily to maintain the status quo with respect to UK-EU trade and adherence to EU rules while a definitive exit agreement is negotiated. We conduct business in both the UK and EU and shipments from our UK subsidiaries represented 3% and 2% of our total net sales in 2018both 2019 and 2017, respectively.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains provisions to improve transparency and accountability regarding the use of “conflict” minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries (“DRC”). The SEC has established annual disclosure and reporting requirements for those companies who use “conflict” minerals sourced from the DRC in their products. These new requirements could limit the pool of suppliers who can provide conflict-free minerals and as a result, we cannot ensure that we will be able to obtain these conflict-free minerals at competitive prices. Compliance with these new requirements may also increase our costs. In addition, we may face challenges with our customers if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins of the minerals used in our products.