Warren Buffett told CNBC on Tuesday the U.S. corporate tax rate is not hurting American businesses.
"Well if I haven't lost all my friends by now, I'll finish it off. We have a lot of businesses. ... I don't think any of them are noncompetitive in the world because of the corporate tax rate," the chairman and CEO of said in a wide-ranging interview.
"I do think some of the arguments, I think some people may find their nose growing a bit after they make them," he said on "Squawk Box."
Buffett said, however, he hopes the corporate tax rate is lowered. "I would like it in the sense that it would be good for a million shareholders of Berkshire in terms of their returns."
The billionaire investor said a tax decrease would increase earnings.
The GOP unveiled its tax reform blueprint last week, which would lower the corporate rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. It also would bring down the rate for so-called pass-through businesses to 25 percent; currently, they are taxed under the individual code.
President Donald Trump said the plan is aimed at helping American workers, creating jobs and making the tax code simpler and fairer. Still, the plan was met with some skepticism about how it would all be paid for.
Top White House economic advisor Gary Cohn told CNBC the proposed tax cuts will be paid for entirely through economic growth and would not increase the budget deficit.
