Published 16:46 IST, December 19th 2019
US Department lists fictional Wakanda as trading partner, removes it later
The US Department of Agriculture listed the fictional country Wakanda as its free trading partner but later clarified that it was added by accident during test.
- World News
- 3 min read
The US Department of Agriculture listed the fictional African country Wakanda as its free trading partner but later clarified that it was added by accident during a test. Wakanda, the fictional home of the Marvel superhero Black Panther, was removed from the list after the error was pointed out.
Trading donkeys with Wakanda
Wakanda was listed on the drop-down menu of Agricultural traffic tracker in the free trade partners along with Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru. The online tariff tracker also had a list of goods the two nations apparently traded, including sheep, goats, donkeys, chicken, geese, horses among others.
A New York-based software engineer Francis Tseng spotted the unusual listing and shared the screenshot on Twitter. Tseng, after spotting Wakanda on the list, got confused thinking he “misremembered the country” from the movie. Tseng taunted that the US would no doubt try to liberalize Wakanda's markets and flood it with cheap subsidized corn. A USDA spokesperson reportedly said that Wakanda's listing was never supposed to be public as it was test file.
Social media immediately lapped up the issue and while few of them showed concern about the lackadaisical approach of Trump administration, many poked fun on the unusual listing. “Fictional?! For goodness sake it’s the second-highest exporter of #Covfefe beans after #Nambia. 🙄 Sheesh. Read a ‘murkan jee-o-Graffy map already, limeys!” commented a user, referring to US President Donald Trump’s random ‘covfefe’ tweet. “America is going through A LOT right now. If it looks messy from the outside, let me assure you that it's a complete mess in America. At this time, please send a kind thought our way,” replied another user. Netizens also came up with several fictional character and countries and claimed it as real.
Updated 17:01 IST, December 19th 2019
