Fictional nation Wakanda removed from US trade list

Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther. Picture: Matt Kennedy/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP

Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther. Picture: Matt Kennedy/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP

Published Dec 19, 2019

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The United States Department of

Agriculture (USDA) removed the fictional country of Wakanda from

an online list of nations that have free trade agreements with

the United States on Thursday.

There was no immediate response from the USDA for comment. A

spokesman told The Washington Post that the inclusion of the

mythical African nation from the universe of Marvel superheroes

was a mistake made as part of a test officials were running.

Francis Tseng, a New York-based software engineer who was

looking for data on U.S. agricultural tariffs for a fellowship

he is pursuing, first noticed the listing for Wakanda on the

U.S. tariff list and called it out on Twitter.

"I was very confused at first and thought I misremembered

the country from the movie and got it confused with something

else," Tseng told Reuters.

Before it was removed, Tseng managed to download an Excel

sheet listing "Harmonized Schedule" tariff codes for various

categories of goods traded between Wakanda and the U.S.

including live animals, dairy goods, tobacco and alcohol.

The hypothetical tariffs that "Wakanda", a fictional country from the movie "Black Panther", would incur if it was a free trade partner with the U.S., are seen in this screenshot of a spreadsheet obtained from the USDA website. Picture: USDA /via REUTERS

"Wakanda", a fictional country from the movie "Black Panther", is seen as an option of a free trade partner with the U.S., in this screenshot obtained from the USDA website. Picture: USDA /via REUTERS

"Wakanda", a fictional country from the movie "Black Panther", is seen as an option of a free trade partner with the U.S., in this screenshot obtained from the USDA website. Picture: USDA /via REUTERS

After the list was corrected, Tseng tweeted: "Well, the USDA

took Wakanda off the list. Guess we're in a trade war with them

too."

The Kingdom of Wakanda is the home of Black Panther, the

Marvel superhero, and is portrayed in comic books and the 2018

blockbuster as an isolated African nation with the most powerful

technology on the planet.

There was no USDA entry for vibranium, the fictional metal

from space that is the source of Wakanda's power.

Marvel is owned by Walt Disney Co. 

Reuters

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