policy is top of mind for ceos and investors alike the president and ceo of the chamber of commerce, tom donohueust wrapping up his annual state of american business address in d.c., saying governing by crisis is no way to do the nation's business he joins us now. first on cnbc interview. tom, good to see you right now we have president trump heading to texas, mexico border. day 20 of the partial government shutdown seems that there's no deal in sight, at least right now. how is this effecting business and ceo sentiment in the u.s., is it? >> yes, of course it is. but it is important to understand the longest we had a shutdown was 21 days, and that's because as they go on, it becomes more and more difficult for businesses to get permits, to get information, to go public when it is all scheduled, but it is very, very important for individuals because you know the gas station is not going to give them free gas, and they're not going to stop at the grocery store and find that, and you can't delay your mortgage, and then it gets really sensitive and difficult. i think the president made an interesti

chamber, tom donohue. [ applause ] >> thank you very much, mark. we're honored to have you with us today. we impressed with your business development plans. i know a lot of people have been trying to figure out what to do with vacant shopping centers and have at it. as we traditionally do, i will start by -- today at the 20th state of the union american -- in america address, i will start by giving you a little look at what we think about the economy. our own surveys find that optimism is consistently high. business owners tell us that we've been encouraged and they've been encouraged by stronger economic growth. we have achieved a growth rate in the last year that many experts claim was way out of reach and it was driven in no small part by deregulation and tax reform. the chamber now projects continued growth of about 2.6% minimum for 2019. we expect that unemployment will remain low, that wages will keep expanding and that inflation will be in the range of the fed's target of 2%. now, there are some who seem to be determined to talk us into a do

tom donohue, president and ceo of the u.s. chamber of commerce joining us from washington. kevin: great interview. coming up, washington roundup. we will hear from two members from the house appropriations committee. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ this is "balance of power." i am shery anh. kevin: i'm kevin cirilli. now it is time for bloomberg's first word news. here's mark crumpton in new york. it looks like we are having some mic trouble but we will get back to that. president trump right now is meeting at the border and for more on the shutdown, let's welcome democratic congressman from the california house of appropriations, representative pete at july. thank you for being with us. -- representative pete aguilar. pete: thank you. kevin: i still do not get the sense that we're anywhere near a deal. >> it sure does not feel that way. the president has said that he will own the shutdown. that is what he said a couple of weeks ago. he has the ability to end of this. we can pass bipartisan pieces of legislation and that was the first order of business for the 116th congress. we hav

. >> bret: tom donohue, ceo of u.s. chamber of commerce. thank you very much. three days of u.s.-chinese talks aimed at ending up costly tariff battle wrapped up today with a sense of public optimism. sarah sanders telling fox business network the administration expect something will come of these negotiations. the u.s. wants china to scrap or change rules. washington says block market access, that will improperly help chinese companies. china is unhappy with u.s. investment curves, such as goals on dual use technology with possible military implications. wall street writing a four-day winning streak. the dow gained 92, the s&p 500 finished 11, the nasdaq was up to 60. we don't know this for sure, but this could be the most expensive divorce ever appeared amazon founder and ceo jeff bezos is getting a divorce. he is one of the world's richest men. amazon is said to be worth $100 billion, and he and his wife mckenzie have been married since 1993. now posted on bezos' twitter account, the two will remain cherished friends and partners and projects. they have four children together.

. >>> when we come back, chamber of commerce ceo tom donohue joins us "squawk alley" up next one-millionthionth order. ♪ there goes our first big order. ♪ 44, 45, 46... how many of these did they order? ooh, that's hot. ♪ you know, we could sell these. nah. ♪ we don't bake. ♪ opportunity. what we deliver by delivering. >>> good thursday a.m. 11:00 a.m. at macy's headquarters in cincinnati, ohio, and 11:00 a.m. on wall street "squawk alley" is live ♪ ♪ >>> good morning, welcome to "squawk alley. i am here with morgan brennan and david faber. carl has the morning off we begin this morning with retail shares of macy's getting crushed after reporting weak holiday sales results, slashing its outlook. other big retail names like target and kohl's feeling the pain courtney reagan is back at headquarters with more courtney >> reporter: hey, jon. i'm actually standing in indianapolis here, but you're right, that disappointing sales result from macy's is dragging down the entire retail sector. for the holiday season which

infrastructure bill and as you heard mark wilson, the introduction to tom this morning, about where you can locate jobs. mr. donohue: ok, right there. reporter: thank you. ivan with the south china morning post. i wanted to circle back briefly morning post. to the trade talks that just concluded in beijing. we've had quite vague and nonspecific statements from the u.s. and china's ministry of commerce. i wonder if the chamber had heard anything about any of the specific agreements that were made? were consensus that was reached between the two sides this week? and also what you made of the pledge from china to buy up more goods and services as part of an ongoing agreement? mr. donohue: well first of all, lighthizerlked to or marvin who talks to those people all the time. in the last two days we've been working on getting ready here. and i don't think there are a lot of agreements that have been made. when you do trade agreements it is the same way you do labor agreements, that is you take up each issue and when you think you are getting near a conclusion of what we are going to agree to do, it is contingent on gett