Panicking Over Trump's Tariffs? 2 Warren Buffett Pearls of Wisdom to Remember
Here are Buffett's words on investing through a crisis.
It was always something of a mystery what was being liberated on President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day," but one thing is now clear: Billions of dollars in brokerage accounts across the country have been set free. The president's announcement of a blanket 10% tariff on all imports and higher taxes on most major trading partners clobbered investors.
After stocks edged up in regular trading Wednesday, the announcement set off a shock after hours. As of 7:15 p.m. ET, futures had not yet started trading, but some major names were down sharply. Shopify, the e-commerce software leader, had lost 9%. Tesla and Apple had each fallen 7%. Nvidia had slipped 5%. The rest of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks that had led the bull market of 2023 and 2024 had gotten hit hard as well, and the wipeout may be unprecedented in modern market history, at least for after-hours trading.
Much of this sell-off seems to be a visceral reaction to the news, and to the economic experiment driving it: The Trump administration has asked Americans to endure some economic pain in order to (according to its reasoning) strengthen the U.S. economy over the long term. It says tariffs will reshore businesses, reduce the trade deficit and dependence on foreign imports, and rebuild the country's manufacturing base.
