Warren Buffett says ‘trade should not be a weapon’ at annual Berkshire meeting

CNN — Warren Buffett has finally shared what he thinks about tariffs.

The famed investor and CEO of multinational conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) on Saturday talked about America’s trade wars, calling them a “big mistake” at the firm’s annual shareholders meeting at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

“Trade should not be a weapon,” said Buffett. He also said that “trade could be an act of war.”

“The United States won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country, starting from nothing 250 years ago, there’s nothing that anything like it,” Buffett said.

Buffett drew applause when he added: “(America) should do what we do best and they should do what they do best.”

Throughout the earnings release, the company warned that tariffs made its outlook uncertain. Berkshire released its quarterly report, where it said tariffs could have a negative impact on its growth.

“Changes in macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical events, including changes in international trade policies and tariffs, may negatively affect our operating results and the values of our investments in equity securities and of our operating businesses,” Berkshire said Saturday in its quarterly note. “We are currently unable to reliably predict the nature, timing, or magnitude of the potential economic consequences of any such changes or the impacts on our Consolidated Financial Statements.”

Berkshire’s operating earnings fell 14% for the first three months of the year. Its insurance underwriting business made $1.33 billion in the first quarter, a nearly 50% decline from the first quarter of 2024, when the conglomerate’s insurance underwriting arm generated nearly $2.6 billion.

The “Oracle of Omaha” arrived at the event, which is shown live on CNBC, with heavy security and after shares of Berkshire hit a record high on Friday. The event has drawn former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.

Speaking from the weekend event dubbed “Woodstock for Capitalists,” Buffett’s long-awaited comments come as concerns grow about markets and the economy. Major indexes in recent weeks have plunged, surged and bounced around in every direction over uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and the effects they may have on the global economy.

Buffett, 94, is expected to discuss his succession plans. He has been with Berkshire since it was formed in 1965.

Buffett discusses Berkshire’s cash pile.

Buffett addressed Berkshire sitting on hoards of cash. The company has about $347 billion in cash, up from $334.2 billion at the end of 2024.

Buffett said Berkshire will eventually find places to invest its cash, but not anytime soon.

“It’s very unlikely to happen tomorrow,” he said. “It’s not unlikely to happen in five years.”

“We have made a lot of money by not being fully invested at all times,” Buffett said. “We don’t think it’s improper, actually, for people who are passive investors just to make a few simple investments and sit back for their lives. But we decided to be in the business, so we think we can do a little better than that by behaving in a very irregular manner.”

He touched on the importance of avoiding making impulse investments.

“If you told me we had to invest, let’s say we had roughly $40 billion a year coming in … If you told me we had to invest $50 billion every year ‘till we got down to $50 billion — that would be the dumbest thing in the world to invest in that manner,” Buffett said.

He also mentioned that he nearly invested $10 billion but declined to discuss what asset.

Giving thanks to Apple

At the start of the event, Buffett gave a rare and special shout-out to Apple’s Cook, who was seated on the floor with other major stakeholders and guests.

“Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more money than I’ve ever made Berkshire Hathaway,” Buffett said when Cook stood from his seat in the crowd.

Berkshire Hathaway has major stakes in five companies: American Express, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, and Apple. But much of Berkshire Hathaway’s investment value relies on Apple, which was valued at nearly $70 billion as of the end of September 2024, according to Berkshire’s third quarter earnings report.

“Nobody but Steve could have created App, le but nobody but Tim could have developed it like it has,” Buffett said, adding that credit was due to the company. Buffett said Cook has done a “wonderful job” running Apple.

Berkshire downsized its stake in Apple by nearly 50% during the second quarter of 2024, knocking its stake from 790 million shares to 400 million. It was a rare decision for Buffett, who is known for holding onto stocks for long periods of time.