The fictional nation of Wakanda was listed as an official free trade partner on the Agricultural Tariff Tracker, which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The faulty listing was removed Wednesday, according to NBC News, but not before the internet got its hands on the error.
Wakanda is the home country of Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther and was popularized by the 2018 film.
A spokesperson for the USDA issued a statement, saying the information regarding Wakanda was part of a set of test files, which have been removed from the site.
"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," Mike Illenberg, a USDA spokesman, said over email to NBC. "The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down."
The error was first brought to the public's attention by Francis Tseng, an associate of the Jain Family Institute who discovered the discrepancy while researching how trade deal tariffs affect food distribution and hunger in those countries.
Wakanda is listed as a US free trade partner on the USDA website?? pic.twitter.com/xcq1OFTIPh
— Francis Tseng (@frnsys) December 18, 2019
“I definitely did a double take,” Tseng said to NBC News. “I googled Wakanda to make sure it was actually fiction, and I wasn’t misremembering. I mean, I couldn’t believe it.”
Once news broke of the Vibranium-rich nation's inclusion, commenters were quick to take to social media to share their excitement about the long-hidden nation.
Not that I don't want to see excellent trade relations between America and Wakanda, but this definitely is an indication that all of the experts have indeed been purged… https://t.co/AW74VGkRqQ
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) December 18, 2019
Wakanda Forever. https://t.co/i9McjVNqvd
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) December 19, 2019
Trump working extra hard for black votes. We see you bruh.https://t.co/Bgvd5X7CQS
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) December 19, 2019
Marvel has yet to comment on the country's inclusion. Luckily, less fictional nations, like Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Peru, are still included on the list.