Warren Buffett flagged caution against the aggressive trade stance taken by the US, rebuking the use of tariffs as a political tool at Berkshire Hathaway’s latest annual shareholders meeting on Saturday. Without directly naming President Donald Trump, Buffett described punitive tariffs on global partners as a ‘big mistake’, saying that “Trade should not be a weapon.”
“The more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won’t be at our expense. The more prosperous we’ll become, and the safer we’ll feel, and your children will feel someday,” the Oracle of Omaha said to the shareholders.
These comments from one of the world’s most prolific investor come at a time when Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs have sent global financial markets into a tailspin, flooding markets with a sea of uncertainty. Last month, the White House announced a series of reciprocal tariffs on partner nations, the largest in decades. Even though the administration later announced a 90-day reprieve to those tariffs, excluding those on China, to give countries a chance for negotiations, uncertainties around the future still remains high.
The US imposed tariffs of up to 145% on certain Chinese imports earlier this year, prompting retaliatory measures of 125% levies from Beijing. China has said it is now evaluating whether to resume trade discussions with Washington.
Buffett, a long-time advocate of free markets, said protectionist measures could undermine both economic and diplomatic stability. “Trade and tariffs can be an act of war,” he said. “They’ve led to poor outcomes, especially in terms of the attitudes they’ve stirred up here at home. We should be trading with the rest of the world. We do what we do best, and they do what they do best,” Buffett said.
He further cautioned against the perception of American triumphalism. “It’s a big mistake, in my view, when you’ve got seven and a half billion people who don’t like you very much, and 300 million people bragging about their success. It’s not right, and it’s not wise.”
The billionaire investor’s comments come amid growing fears about the global economy. The US GDP contracted in the first quarter for the first time since 2022. With Berkshire’s vast operations in insurance, energy, transport and retail, Buffett remains uniquely positioned to assess economic conditions on the ground.
In its first-quarter results, Berkshire Hathaway acknowledged that tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty had created “considerable uncertainty” for its businesses. The firm said it could not yet determine the full impact of these developments.
Caught amid these prevailing what ifs, Buffett has switched to a defensive stance in recent quarters, with Berkshire selling off stocks for ten consecutive quarters, including over $134 billion worth of shares in 2024. Most of these sales came from bellwethers like Apple and Bank of America that were Berkshire’s two largest equity holdings. The result of these stake sales was a record cash pile of $347 billion on Berkshire’s books as of the end of March.
