By Jonathan Stempel and Suzanne McGee
OMAHA (Reuters) -Warren Buffett warned of the perils of excessive tariffs, saying they should not be a “weapon” and that the United States would be more prosperous if other countries were.
Buffett spoke at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday, after the conglomerate he built over 60 years showed it remained cautious about markets, allowing its cash stake to grow to a record $347.7 billion.
The 94-year-old billionaire, arguably the world’s most revered investor, had said very little about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which unsettled many investors and caused big declines in stock markets worldwide.
“Balanced trade is good for the world,” and “trade should not be a weapon,” Buffett said.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to design a world where a few countries say, ha ha ha, we’ve won,” Buffett added. “I do think that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, … the more prosperous we’ll become.”
But despite concerns about the direction of the U.S. economy and the country itself, Buffett retained his traditional optimism, saying criticism of policies and the people who make them is par for the course.
“We’re always in the process of change,” he said. “I would not get discouraged…. We’re all pretty lucky.”
NET SELLER OF STOCKS, AGAIN
Berkshire reported its cash stake with its first-quarter results, where insurance losses from January’s wildfires in southern California contributed to a 14% decline in operating profit to $9.64 billion.
Net income fell 64% to $4.6 billion, reflecting unrealized losses on stocks such as Apple.
Berkshire’s cash stake grew from $334.2 billion at year-end. The company repurchased no stock for a third straight quarter, and was a net seller of stocks for a 10th straight quarter.
Buffett downplayed concern about Berkshire’s cash, saying the company “came close” to spending $10 billion recently, but that buying opportunities don’t come in an orderly fashion.
That should happen over five years, he said, but not necessarily tomorrow.
“We’re running a business which is very, very, very opportunistic,” Buffett said. “We have made a lot of money by not being fully invested at all times.”
When asked, Buffett did not address whether Berkshire was hoarding cash for Vice Chairman Greg Abel, his designated successor as chief executive, to invest.
Addressing another questioner, Buffett and Abel also strongly backed five Japanese trading houses–Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo–in which Berkshire has invested.
