No, the US doesn’t have a free trade agreement with Wakanda

Until Wednesday, however, T’Challa’s kingdom was listed on the USDA website

'Black Panther' Makes History With Oscar Nomination for Best Picture It is the first superhero film to receive the honor at the Academy Awards. 'Black Panther' received lots of praise from critics and audiences when it was released in February last year. Many have considered it to be a cultural milestone thanks to its nearly all-black cast. The 2019 Academy Awards are set to air on February 21 on ABC.

It would be fantastic to have access to vibranium or the technology that would allow us to fit a change of clothing in a necklace, but it’s not happening. Even though Wakanda is forever, the United States’ free trade agreement with the fictional country ended Wednesday.

Confused? Here’s what happened.

While testing the Agricultural Tariff Tracker, which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Wakanda was listed as a free trade agreement partner, NBC News reported.

» 5 things to know about 'Black Panther'

ajc.com

icon to expand image

"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, told NBC News in an email. "The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down."

Wakanda apparently appeared on the tracker sometime after June 10, NBC reported, but wasn’t discovered until Wednesday.

Francis Tseng, a fellow at the Jain Family Institute, was doing research when he came across the tracker.

“I definitely did a double take,” he told NBC. “I Googled Wakanda to make sure it was actually fiction, and I wasn’t misremembering. I mean, I couldn’t believe it.”

» Among the cast of ‘Black Panther’ is this 93-year-old Atlanta actress

» 'Black Panther': Five things to know about the movie's ties to metro Atlanta

Those who didn’t read the Marvel comic books were introduced to Wakanda when Atlanta-filmed “Black Panther” hit the big screen and became a blockbuster. The once hidden African kingdom, ruled by T’Challa (aka Black Panther), was ahead of the world in technology. You could find self-piloting planes, vibranium-powered wrist blasters and magnetic levitation trains — and the technology to make the entire kingdom invisible to the rest of the world.

Although the United States can’t benefit from Wakanda, Georgia certainly did.

The movie added nearly $90 million to the state’s economy. Several locations around metro Atlanta were home to “Black Panther” settings, including the rock quarry at the Vulcan Materials Co. in Stockbridge. It was also the first movie to be filmed on the soundstage at Tyler Perry’s studio.

» Atlanta airport offers nonstop flights to the Kingdom of Wakanda

» Atlanta-filmed ‘Avengers: Endgame’ poised to topple box office records