The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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? Exclusive: Chamber's new chair

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of America's most powerful lobbying groups, is pushing for policies it believes will unleash 3% economic growth, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.

• The Chamber's new chairman, Ross Perot Jr., is blunt about the challenges of getting there in the short term.

Why it matters: The group has cheered President Trump's agenda as pro-growth, applauding efforts to relax regulations and extend current tax policy. But tariffs are the dividing issue — one the Chamber says is weighing on small businesses and the broader economy.

?️ "This year is going to be tough," Perot told Axios in an exclusive interview at the U.S. Chamber offices, across Lafayette Park from the White House.

• "I think because we're waiting for the tax code, and so you've got a little bit of uncertainty there," Perot said. "Then I think people are waiting on where we are going to go on tariffs. Once that settles down, we can all go to work."

Perot — a north Texas billionaire and real estate developer whose late father, Ross Perot, ran for president as an independent in 1992 — will be charged with pushing that message.

• Perot Jr. takes over as the new chairman of the U.S. Chamber today working with the group's president and CEO, Suzanne Clark.