The U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled the fictional country of Wakanda from its list of free trade partners.
The agency confused many when it listed Wakanda, the fictional nation that is home to Black Panther, as one of the country’s trade partners. Wakanda’s inclusion was listed on the department’s website under the Agricultural Tariff Tracker. A Twitter post claimed that Wakanda traded purebred horses, sheep, goats, swine, and other livestock.
??? pic.twitter.com/YwRf7aQj3h
— Francis Tseng (@frnsys) December 18, 2019
Many people found the listing hysterical and hopped online to make fun of the department’s trade relationship with Wakanda.
Wakanda forever! ?♀️?♀️https://t.co/xM3SxqitCM
— Paavan Mathema (@paavan11) December 19, 2019
Guys, buy shares in Vibranium NOW https://t.co/6lOiwTKlQm
— Andrew Hunter Murray (@andrewhunterm) December 19, 2019
“The department’s online tariff tracker hosted a detailed list of goods the two nations apparently traded, including ducks, donkeys and dairy cows.” ??? #WakandaForever #Wakanda https://t.co/y1FaVxF4rE
— Lebo Diseko (@lebo_diseko) December 19, 2019
Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows https://t.co/lxBbMEnUrG
— Rebecca Sinderbrand (@sinderbrand) December 18, 2019
What a time it is to be alive, the US, showing the UK how to forge new trade relationships post-Brexit. #GetBrexitDone https://t.co/ykkLPWGdDg
— Reece Pugh (@Reeceypugh) December 19, 2019
The department pulled Wakanda from the listing after it went viral. In a statement to NBC, Agriculture Department spokesman Mike Illenberg said, “Over the past few weeks, the Foreign Agricultural Service staff who maintain the Tariff Tracker have been using test files to ensure that the system is running properly. The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down.”
Francis Tseng, a fellow at the Jain Family Institute who first noticed the error and posted it to Twitter, said he did a “double-take” when he first saw Wakanda listed.
“I Googled Wakanda to make sure it was actually fiction, and I wasn’t misremembering. I mean, I couldn’t believe it,” Tseng explained. “I was trying to figure out whether this is someone at the USDA making a joke or if it’s a developer who accidentally left it in, but I’m not sure.”
Black Panther was a huge cinematic success in 2018 and became one of the highest-grossing superhero films of all time after raking in over $1 billion.
