‘Trade Should Not Be a Weapon’: Warren Buffett Gives Final Warning as CEO on Trump’s Tariffs — Without Saying His Name
Billionaire Warren Buffett issued a dire warning about President Donald Trump’s current trade war, without actually naming the president.
Buffett announced on Saturday at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Nebraska that he would be stepping down as CEO by the end of the year. Buffett has been chief executive for the company for six decades. Before that announcement, Buffett shared his thoughts on tariffs, saying “trade should not be a weapon.”
The president has meanwhile argued that tariffs should be levied against countries to renegotiate more beneficial deals. He’s also said his tariffs will lead to an American manufacturing boom, calling markets taking hits since his tariff announcement a “transition period.”
Buffett said on Saturday:
Trade should not be a weapon. And the United States — the United States, we’ve won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country, starting from nothing 250 years ago. There’s nothing like it. And it’s a big mistake, in my view, when you have seven and a half billion people that don’t like you very well, and you’ve got 300 million that are crowing in some way about how well they’ve done, and I don’t think it’s right and I don’t think it’s wise. I do think that the more, the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won’t be at our expense, the most prosperous we’ll become, and then the safer we’ll feel, and your children will feel someday.
Tariffs, Buffett warned, can be used as an “act of war.”
“I think it’s led to bad things. Just the attitudes it’s brought out. In the United States, I mean, we should be looking to trade with the rest of the world and we should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,” he said.
Trump announced massive, across-the-board tariffs only to later pause much of the announced-hikes, except those against China, while he renegotiates trade deals with various countries, leading to some volatility in the stock market as uncertainty looms.
Buffett received a standing ovation on Saturday after announcing his retirement as CEO.
“The enthusiasm shown by that response can be interpreted in two ways, but I’ll take it,” he joked.
Watch above via CNBC.
