Warren Buffett Sounds the Alarm on Donald Trump's Tariff Plan in Final Message as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Billionaire business mogul Warren Buffett has delivered a stark warning about the escalating trade war before retiring as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

On Saturday, May 3, Buffett revealed his plans to step down as CEO by the year’s end. However, before making that announcement, he expressed serious concerns about current tariff policies without mentioning Donald Trump by name.

Buffett warned shareholders in a meeting in Nebraska: "Trade should not be a weapon."

He stated: "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."

While the president has championed tariffs as a means to force countries into renegotiating more favorable trade agreements – claiming they will spur a manufacturing renaissance – Buffett cautioned against the potential fallout.

He highlighted the dangers of a combative trade stance, drawing attention to the interconnectedness of global prosperity and said: "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."

Buffett warned that tariffs have the potential to escalate into an "act of war", stressing the negative attitudes they can foster around the world.

He elaborated: "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."

As Trump's tariffs have created waves in the stock market – prompting a rollercoaster of volatility – Buffett hopes his words will serve as a sobering reminder of the stakes involved.

The president initially rolled out massive tariffs across the board but has since opted to pause much of his planned tax hikes, except for those targeting China.

In April, after Trump announced his new tariff rollout, China announced it was raising tariffs on U.S. goods from 84 percent to 125 percent.

A statement put out by China's Finance Ministry announcing the tariffs said: "The U.S.'s arbitrary imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, disregards the post-World War II global economic order built by the U.S. itself, and violates basic economic laws and common sense."

The ministry also called rising U.S. tariffs "a joke" and said it would not respond to future tariff hikes.