November. The road map begins with the trump effect. Gm, walmart and now hyundai announcing Big Investments in u. S. Jobs. But with four days until inauguration, could the president elect and gop be at odds over the fade of Corporate Tax reform . Plus, in a deal creating the Worlds Largest publicly traded tobacco business, British American tobacco buys what it doesnt more oalready own. Well be joined by reynolds executive later. The chinese president drawing a line on trade with donald trump. Well go live to the Economic Forum where squawk has been in davos. First up, the president elect telling the wall street journal a border adjustment measure in the house gop Corporate Tax plan is too complicated. The republicans pitched their plan plan. More companies reacting to the president elects push for more jobs in the u. S. Walmart adding more jobs this year. Gm planning 1 million 1 billio investment. Hyundai the same with 3 billion. It points to what the markets have been thinking this postelection season. I read the interview and said to myself, the retailers have been down, down, down. Some is because of amazon but some is because, are they the guys that will be hurt the most . I think ive tried very hard to understand the border tax adjustment. Gone to really good people. Theres a lot of different to say it is complicated is to make it so that it is something that can never get passed in a year because it is a difficult bill to write. It is. You dont think it could get passed, did you say in a year . No, it is too hard. I dont know about that. I dont know about that. Well i mean, youre right to keep people thinking about later rather than sooner, but to say that somehow tax reform wont get passed in the next year no, i mean a border tax is more difficult to write. It may be. Many more lobbyists at stake trying to fight it than there would be a lowering of Corporate Tax. True. But it is a key portion of the house blueprint from ways and means. Again, i think it is important for us to both say, how important tax reform will be to so many different businesses, hence why were focused on it, because it conceivably will change the way a lot of businesses choose to operate. Right. Also, important to note, we have a long way to go. A very long way to go, to your point. Right. We are in the early innings. Spring training is still aways aw a ways away. Were most likely not going to get there until august, september, october. And the fight youre talking about, where trump seems to perhaps not like the language he got in the house blueprint from ways and means could be an important milestone in terms of where the battle shapes. Im saying this isnt 2018 issue, is what im saying, versus, deregulation, which is 2017. Versus repatriation, which could easily be 2017. Well, that means you think theyre going to do them separately . Yes. I dont think that is the case. We disagree. Okay. And we have nothing necessarily to go on. No. Youre suggesting corporate and personal get comingled . Or repatriation is separate from corporate . It is possible repatriation could be separate. That would be a failure of them to really reach an agreement. I think it would be back to what happened with george w. Bush. Everyone kind of that was an easier issue. Look, im just saying that the when you read through what trump is saying, hes saying, were going to get something done. I just look at whats easiest to get done versus what is not. The border tax, every ceo ive dealt with said, what issue do you have with border tax . Listen, i know. I would throw it on third down and, you know, hope the guy catches it and they get the field goal. Honest to god interesting. Others would argue that congress has a very strong secondary, and it is not easy to bulldoze into capitol hill with simple stuff. That is look, i think not to mention excuse me for cutting you off and coming at you from both sides here his plan could potentially add a lot to the deficit, whereas this thing at least, according to nonpartisan sources, would add as much as 100 billion in revenue, which would offset the loss in revenue from cutting taxes so dramatically. Youre attacking a defenseless receiver here, but i do believe it would make sense to play out. And we have seen trump start with something, which is this may be his opening bid, which is that i dont want border taxes too complicated. Then they come back with something simp iler. Thats been his way. Thats a key part of the plan, the border adjustment tax on consumption to try and move it back here in terms of manufacturing to a certain extent and not having exports taxed at all. Thats a key part of this blueprint. Youre right, it is so early. Very early. I dont want to be someone who says, look and maybe it is less likely now. 2018 numbers versus 2017 numbers. There is an upgrade for disney today. Well get it. One of the mentions is Corporate Tax rate coming in. When is it coming down . Talking about a 2018 plan. Could be retroactive to 17 though. Yes. To your point, if we come out of this year with only repatriation, that will be viewed as a failure. Yes. I think even you would go along with that. I would go along with that. I want more than that. Deregulation, obviously, on the Morgan Stanley call right now, theres many questions involved about what the different regulators will do in terms of transparency. But, yeah, i would be it would be like, wow, is that all you got . Now, the business, jpmorgan, bank of america conference call, since weve seen each other last, all of us are saying, fourth quarter, really strong. Could mean december. Its not like were coming in flat. I think that you can make it so that lets say if something happens where we get conversations going, i think the analysts will be happy and theyll say, look, this is okay. Provided that the dollar were going to be worried about the dollar. Well get to the currencies in a minute. As were talking, gm is out with this release that was expected this morning, saying theyre going to invest an additional 1 billion in u. S. Manufacturing. Follows 2. 9 billion last year. 21 million, they say, theyve invested since 09. 5,000 new jobs in the u. S. Over the next few years. This, of course, is along with what carrier, ford, amazon walm saying 10,000 jobs. I dont know how many of these were in the cards versus what we heard this weekend about the incredible plans that bmw and mercedesbenz have to go to mexico and build lots of cars in mexico. Thats not in the cards. Thats the 35 border tax. But the plant is a gigantic plant. The other plants people are talking the germans are talking about would be plants that i think he would like to see in the United States, be built. I would argue are a lot of jobs. Before we get to sarah, of course, who loves the dollar, we should mention the dollar. Trump seeming to think still the chinese are working their currency lower when theyre doing the opposite. Theyve added i mean, 1 trillion theyve thrown against the currency to try to keep it somewhere. But the dollar is a key portion, again, back to tax reform, of offsetting the cost to consumers from imports. The argument being the dollar will strengthen a great deal. Right. The only thing thats strengthening against today is the pound. Yeah. The pound looks good. One thing what weve forgotten, what it is like to have a president negotiate the congress. There have been no negotiations. Remember boehner, fed up . Maybe this is just a president saying president elect, were going to negotiate. Which we forgot what that is like. Maybe they actually sit down and come up with a plan. That would be different from what were used to in the last few years. Right. We have the same party in control of all three bodies. Right. They start from a different place. They start from respect to some degree. Youd call it coming in hot, i think. Coming in during the inauguration week saying that t nato is obsolete, dollar is too strong, insurance for everybody. Were four days away from his first day on the job. Yeah, well, it is difficult when you have a threeday weekend to try to factor in all the thins that are happening. Dont forget, saturday night live is still just well, i couldnt stay up. Too busy watching youtube. You may want to check it out. Its good. All right. Lets get to sarah. The world Economic Forum kicking off in davos. News from an unprecedented appearance by chinese president xi jinping. Sarah joins us from davos with the latest. Good morning, carl, jim and david. For the first time in more than 40 years, in the history of davos, the president of china is here. Xi jinping delivering a Strong Defense of globalization this morning, taking the other side of the Global Economic issue that president elect donald trump has firmly been against in his campaign and as president elect. Heres a snipit. President xi saying protectionism is like locking yourself in a darkroom which would seem to block wind and rain but also blocks out the sunshine. No one is a winner in a trade war. Unlikely defender of global cooperation, a communist country who is often criticized for not playing fair on free trade. Trump, on the other hand, whose inauguration comes just as davos draws to a close, has threatened to withdraw from the transpacific trade partnership. The trade deal, ex china, promised a confrontational approach in trade with cshina. It is a showdown between the worlds economic powers. Thats what everyone is talking about. Whether the rising protectionism will hurt the economy and why markets dont seem to be concerned with that fact. Ill head inside here now to host a panel with Major Health Care kpaktiexecutives. Get their first chance to react to trumps latest delve into that industry. Saying the u. S. Will have to bid competitively to lower drug prices. Saying the companies are getting away with murder. Should be an interesting one. Ill bring you highlights on squawk alley. So much to keep track of. Youre going to be busy today. Of course, jack lew later on. Its cold. Sarah, thanks a lot. What do you think about the chinese president school us on trade . One of the things that trump believes firmly is that we have been in a war with china over trade for many years. We just have not fought. So what youre hearing is literally the beginning of what is a fight on the u. S. Side and he is responding to that. I think that hes not used to being to have the country, our country, roll over and play dead. Because the president has had a policy for years and years on not commenting on the currency. You have a new president coming in and all he does is he thinks the currency is important in mexico and europe, important in china. So the debate is, well, who is the president , to Say Something about the currency . I would tell you, trump is the president who says, im going to go after them or currency hard. It is just odd at this very moment. In particular, because we need a stronger dollar, in part, to offset these provisions he seems to not necessarily agree with, in the only blueprint we have on potential tax reform. I think we have to recognize that there is a very big split between how this administration views china and how all previous administrations viewed it. This administration thinks china abused us endlessly. Previous administrations said, yes, it is entirely possible but were not going to do anything because it is a sleeping tiger. And i think that trump says, huhuh, it is a tiger thats been eating us for years. And were done with that. I love the powerful silence afterwards. Come on, that was a great statement. Go to commercial. I let it sit there and hang. It sat there like a pick. It was so filled with drama. Dun, dun, dun. Like a field goal, then give him 30 seconds more, give rodgers time. Unbelievable. A lot like that. Flicks his wrist. Im a cowboys fan. This motion, 40 yards. Steves interview with jack lew. Well hear what he says about the Trump Administration and more. Reynolds executive chairman, susan cameron, taking full control of the company in the 49 billion deal. Well look at the premarket and the pound. Uk inflation, the highest in three years. Squawk on the street, in just a moment. This car is traveling over 200 miles per hour. To win, every millisecond matters. Both on the track and thousands of miles away. With the help of at t, Red Bull Racing can share critical information about every inch of the car from virtually anywhere. Brakes are getting warm. Confirmed, daniel you need to cool your brakes. Understood, brake bias back 2 clicks. Giving them the agility to have speed precision. Because no one knows like at t. A deal to create the Worlds Largest publicly traded to back co Company Based on revenue. They agree to pay 49 billion in cash and stock to take full control of Reynolds American. The combination puts brands such as newport, dunhill and paul maul under one roof. Well speak with susan cameron, the seller in the deal, but not the seller right away. If you recall, of course, it was a few months ago that bat came with its first offer to acquire reynolds. There was an argument to be made, at least, about whether or not the company deserved a control premium or a minority squeeze out. And whether or not what was being offered then was more reminiscent of squeeze out rather than premium. This went longer than they anticipated. B. A. T. Thought theyd wrap this up last year. They didnt. Perhaps they had to part with a bit more value than anticipated. Theyre also talking about synergies that are significant, cost savings that are fairly large. Jim, they get it done with more cash in terms of the component going from 60 40 stock cash to 50 50. Reynolds shareholders will own about 19 of this combination. 29. 44 in cash. Were talking about a Third Quarter close, most likely, because youll need a new security listed from b. A. T. Any chance any of the regulators will say theres too much consciencentration in a business . This is a lot of concentration. There is the chance. But there is the belief, given the ownership stake already, this is not going to play here in concern with any trust. Another question, does this get Philip MorrisInternational Talking . Were spending a lot of time on that. It is important. Theyre not at this point but it has been around ever since this initial deal was announced as a possibility. The old beer and Tobacco Companies in decline get together in order to be able to have some scale, but there is no price raises. No one has been able to put in a price increase. It is about the next Generation Products. Yes. All the Different Technology now for how you can smoke and not do so with the effects on your health, or less, at least. I think youve been reporting on this the whole way. When i saw it today, i said this incredible deal involving glasses. These are gigantic deals. One that doesnt hit our radar as much because it is too far but it is an enormous deal. Without a doubt. This ends up in a multiple in excess of anything paid previously. Certainly when reynolds moved. B. A. T. , by the way, interestingly, you wouldnt think a beneficiary of the weak pound. Of course, it helps its sales. Right. If you own even though theyre buying right. A lot of people say, jim, how can we not recommend diagio because they do well with joh y Johnny Walker so cheap. Shareholders said, wait a second, the tax rate for this entity is going to dramatically drop and, tlefherefore, we want see the benefit paid in the preet y premium. Its in may before we know where tax reform ends up. The european deals, where have they been . I know. Theyre doing them now. 27 market share for these eyeglass guys. The lenses. Incredible. Wow. When you go to you know what . Some businesses, they america and people say, there are a lot of guys that need glasses. Dont worry about it. When we come back, well get cramers mad dash and count down to the opening bell. Later, ginni rometty. We havent gotten to the start of earning season. A lot more still ahead. Dont go away. Hey steve check out this guys leg. Yeah looks like a real nasty moving back in with his parents. What . No. I just broke my leg. No, this is a full blown move in to the basement, youre gonna be out of work without that money from. Aflac you might miss your rent. Aww i just moved out. Bummer man. Hey i used to have my own place. Yeah . No, no i live with my mom, but its cool. Health can change but the life you love doesnt have to, keep your lifestyle healthy with. Aflac time for a mad dash on this tuesday. We did one deal, but we have another one thats important in your area that you love to focus on. 2. 7 billion deal. Youll see clayton williams, which is cwei, up a lot this morning. Why . Nbl making a deal to move into the permian. This is, again, exxon today, 5 billion deal. Why is everyone focused on the permian . You can make money here right now in the 50s. If you buy permian, youll be able to boost your production growth, which is what people care about. I urge people to recognize that anybody that has bought in the permian has seen their stock go higher. People are saying, take profits in noble. I dont think so. This is a very, very important deal. Strategically to get cheaper assets. Youve been talking about the permian for quite some time because it is productive and the cost is lower than it is in some of the other shale areas. One of the reasons theyre low is the fantastic infrastructure. Second, when you use this, the new drilling, fracking, you get all of this oil that used to be thought to be unavailable. This is the biggest field in the world. At one point. Obviously, the saudis came through. When i see this kind of thing, i say, dont give up on these stocks. Dont think theyre done just because oil stalled in the 550. These deals are additive and people will like them and theyll like noble. The performance of the stock this year well. Theyre going out of business. People thought they were going under like so many of the oil companies. 50 . No, no. I like noble very much. We have a lot of other things to cover here. Of course, with the opening bell a few minutes ago, exclusive exit interview with treasury secretary jack lew. I cant wait for her to have that College Experience that i had. The classes, the friends, the independence. And since we planned for i