Warren Buffett details the

Omaha, Neb. (AP) – Investor Warren Buffett told thousands of shareholders from Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday that the United States should not use “trade as a weapon” and anger the rest of the world as President Donald Trump has done with his tariffs that crossed the global markets.

“It is a big mistake in my opinion when you have 7.5 billion people who do not like it very well, and you have 300 million that are falling on how they have done it,” Buffett said as he addressed the issue in everyone’s mind at the beginning of the shareholders meeting.

While Buffett said that it is better that trade is balanced among countries, he does not believe that Trump does it in the right way with his generalized tariffs.

“We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world. We should do what we do better and should do what they do best,” he said.

The tariffs were the main theme on which the shareholders asked in the questions that they sent in advance to the CNBC reporter that will afford Buffett and its two main managers throughout the day. But investors will also look for him to explain why he is sitting at $ 347.7 billion in cash in Berkshire.

Buffett said that he simply does not see many investments at attractive prices that he understands these days, but he predicted that one day Berkshire will be “bombarded with opportunities for which we will be happy to have cash.”

Haibo Liu even camped during the night outside the sand to be the first in row on Saturday morning. Liu said he is concerned that this year he can be Buffett’s last meeting since he is 94 years old, so he made a priority to attend his second meeting.

“It has helped me a lot,” said Liu, who traveled from China to attend. “I really want to express my thanks.”

Johannes Eisele through Getty Images

The meeting attracts about 40,000 people every year they want to listen to buffett, including some known celebrities and investors. This year, Hillary Rodham Clinton also attended. Clinton was the last candidate that Buffett retreated publicly because he has moved away from politics and any controversial theme in recent years for fear of hurting Berkshire’s businesses.

The Linda Smith shareholder, 73, learned for the first time of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway when she rented a room of her sister, Doris, while she was a graduate student in Washington, DC Smith, said Doris came home from an annual meeting not long after Berkshire bought Candy from See and told her that she had to buy the stock.

Smith could not buy it immediately because the price of a single share was sold for around $ 3,400 and that was equal to its income as a postgraduate student. But as soon as he got a job after university, he took the advice of his friend and began saving to buy some of the shares that are now sold for $ 809,350.

Over the years, Smith estimates that he has probably attended about 20 annual meetings, often bringing a friend.

“I really like to listen to Warren Buffett, particularly this year with everything that has happened,” said Smith.