Loyal McDonald’s customers may notice skyrocketing prices on its menu items nationwide very soon.
Australia’s trade minister Don Farrell revealed Americans could possibly see a rise in the cost of Big Macs due to new tax levies.
The news comes after US government officials hinted at imposing tariffs on Australian lamb and beef.
These tariffs could potentially devastate the farming industry, which accounts for over $5 billion in exports.
‘The significance, of course, to the US about our beef exports is that most of it goes into McDonald’s hamburgers,’ the traded minister recently told Sky News.
‘If you push up the price of those beef exports by 25% or 10% or whatever the figure is, then you simply push up the price of hamburgers in the United States. It doesn’t make sense.’
Farrell continued by saying he doesn’t know what to expect from Donald Trump’s administration and suspects the American government doesn’t know what to do.
The prices of Big Macs will potentially increase if tariffs are imposed on Australian lamb and beef
Australia’s trade minister Don Farrell has expressed desire for the US government not to impose the tariffs
Trump ignited the tariff discussion during his presidential campaign last year and called it ‘the most beautiful word in the dictionary’ in October 2024.
He later announced plans to add 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on goods from China a month later.
The tariffs in Canada, China, and Mexico took effect on March 4 but were later paused on Canadian and Mexican goods affiliated with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA – a free trade agreement.
Building materials shipped to the US from those areas have risen due to the levies.
With this increase, the cost of single-family home construction in the US would go from $7,500 to $10,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Farrell has shown strong opposition to the levies and has called the tariff imposition ‘the wrong policy to adopt.’
‘We should be making more free trade, more fair trade, rather than less trade,’ the trade administrator said.
‘And, of course, one of the things that we’ve done in government is diversity our trading relationship.’
Joe Erlinger confirmed menu prices rose by 40 percent between 2019 and 2025
McDonald’s restaurants have been significantly raising its menu items’ costs before the escalation of Trump’s trade wars.
There had been news circulating social media that the costs of Big Macs rose by 100 percent compared to its 2019 prices last year.
Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, confirmed this to be false, and mentioned the correct percentage growth.
‘The average price of a Big Mac in the US was $4.39 in 2019,’ Erlinger wrote in a May 2024 letter.
‘Despite a global pandemic and historic rises in supply chain costs, wages and other inflationary pressures in the years that followed, the average cost is now $5.29. That’s an increase of 21% (not 100%).’
The president confirmed in the same letter that all the restaurant chain’s menu had a 40 percent increase ‘over the past five years.’
McDonald’s also raised prices for Egg McMuffins and hashbrowns, which were factors in a 7 percent profit increase in early 2024.
The company is continuing to work on drawing in customers and boosting profits after finishing off 2024 with over $130 billion in global systemwide sales.
McDonald’s earned over $130 billion in global systemwide sales last year
‘Accelerating the Arches continues to be the right strategy as we focus on growing market share,’ Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said in an earnings report published on February 10.
‘We’re playing to win, focusing on our customers with outstanding value, exciting menu innovation and culturally relevant marketing.’
It’s also managed to stay on top of running its new McValue platform, which features its $5 Meal Deal offering.
McDonald’s is expected to release its next earnings report on April 29.
