Black Panther’s Wakanda Listed as Free Trade Partner
It was uncovered earlier this week that the official Department of Agriculture website listed Black Panther’s land Wakanda as a free trade partner. Yes, you read that correctly.
Marvel’s blockbuster hit Black Panther is set in the land of Wakanda. This is a fictional land of course.
The Tweets Ensued
USDA tariff tracker removes Wakanda, fictional home of Black Panther, as free trade partner. https://t.co/RvdOVONgyp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 18, 2019
According to the New York Times, “An enterprising staff member at the Foreign Agricultural Service (and, one can only assume, a fan of Marvel Comics) used the name in a test of its tariff tracker, said Mike Illenberg, a U.S.D.A. spokesman. “The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down,” he said. He declined to comment further.
For Francis Tseng, a fellow at the Jain Family Institute, it was akin to finding an Easter egg at the end of a superhero movie. He was doing research related to fertilizer, open markets and local food production when he came across the tariff tracker and its errant entry.“
Up until Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture listed Wakanda, the fictional land in Marvel’s “Black Panther,” as a free trade partner of the U.S. https://t.co/gQcCAzVTnU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 19, 2019
The New York Times continued, “I did a double take,” Mr. Tseng said Wednesday. He searched Wakanda online, “just to make sure it wasn’t real,” he said. Then, he posted his finding on Twitter.”
Wakanda is listed as a US free trade partner on the USDA website?? pic.twitter.com/xcq1OFTIPh
— Francis Tseng (@frnsys) December 18, 2019
What Exactly Was Listed
The New York Times further reported, “Several items were listed for trade with Wakanda on the U.S.D.A. site, including yellow potatoes, Chinese water chestnuts, coffee beans and cows, according to NBC News, which reported the mishap. Vibranium didn’t make the U.S.D.A. list, though. (That’s the fictional metal mined in Wakanda that can absorb large amounts of energy.)
Wakanda is situated in eastern Africa in the Marvel Universe. Ryan Coogler, the director of “Black Panther,” said he was partly inspired by the kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa.”
US Department of Agriculture Responds
The Department of Agriculture had some fun with the incident as you’ll see in the Tweet below. “While we removed the Kingdom of Wakanda from our list of US free trade partners, our relationship will always be strong #WakandaForever”
While we removed the Kingdom of Wakanda from our list of US free trade partners, our relationship will always be strong #WakandaForever pic.twitter.com/wiRSCIdfGh
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) December 19, 2019