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All good things must come to an end; despite the US’s long and mutually beneficial relationship with Wakanda, home of the Black Panther, the United States Department of Agriculture has removed them from the official list of trade partners.
We’re kidding… sort of. Wakanda was removed, but we don’t think there will be a trade war incoming.
If you’ve gotten this far and you don’t know what we’re talking about, there’s a good chance you’re not a Marvel fan.
Wakanda is a fictional country located somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. It first appeared in the Fantastic Four comics, but really gained popularity in the Marvel hit Black Panther, which came out in 2018.
T’Challa is the king and protector of Wakanda, and also the superhero Black Panther. T’Challa is strong, smart, and enhanced with an ancient heart-shaped herb. Basically, he’s a king who runs around in a black suit beating people up who threaten Wakanda.
That’s an awfully good question, and we don’t really have a great answer for you. What we do know is that it happened, and they have since removed Wakanda from the list.
Francis Tseng was the first to spot Wakanda on the list of official trade partners. Tseng is a software engineer who was looking up agricultural tariffs for a fellowship he was applying for when he stumbled across the name of the African country.
What’s even more confusing is that Wakanda had information about trade between both countries. Fresh veggies, coffee, oil, and livestock were all apparently trade items we swapped.
Once the media got wind of it, they started asking the USDA questions. Why is Wakanda a registered trade partner? What are we receiving, exactly, from this fictional country full of super-strong warriors?
Are superheroes real?
The USDA immediately removed Wakanda from their list, sparking inquiries as to whether Tseng accidentally started a trade war with the country.
According to a spokesman for the government agency, Wakanda was being used for testing the system and tracking data, but no one ever removed it.
“The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down.” Mike Illenberg explained.
So, I guess that means our dreams of Marvel superheroes are dashed once again.
