Rhode Island exports fewer dollars worth of goods to foreign countries than any other New England state, according to the TradeStats Express website.
Only four other states export fewer dollars worth of goods to other countries than Rhode Island. Here are the top and bottom ten:
| Top 10 | Bottom 10 | ||
| 1. Texas | $264,708,659,761 | 50. Hawaii | $731,664,010 |
| 2. California | $161,879,918,490 | 49. Wyoming | $1,420,924,817 |
| 3. New York | $81,358,857,002 | 48. South Dakota | $1,556,241,031 |
| 4. Washington | $75,618,900,503 | 47. Montana | $1,576,876,497 |
| 5. Illinois | $68,127,010,189 | 46. Rhode Island | $237,0156,815 |
| 6. Florida | $66,201,800,100 | 45. New Mexico | $2,967,650,904 |
| 7. Louisiana | $62,892,633,604 | 44. Maine | $3,047,707,915 |
| 8. Michigan | $56,993,402,032 | 43. New Hampshire | $3,488,610,845 |
| 9. Ohio | $48,647,707,663 | 42. Vermont | $4,139,591,084 |
| 10. Pennsylvania | 38,829,058,903 | 41. North Dakota | $4,308,687,941 |
But when it comes to selling scrap metal and waste paper abroad, the tiny Ocean State far exceeds its size. In New England, only Massachusetts sells more scrap and waste to other parts of the globe. And not by much:
In fact, only nine state in the nation export more waste and scrap to other countries than Rhode Island. Here’s a list of the top 15:
| 1 | California | $5,648,331,328 |
| 2 | New York | $3,661,343,535 |
| 3 | Texas | $2,366,551,325 |
| 4 | New Jersey | $2,127,648,030 |
| 5 | Florida | $1,816,976,101 |
| 6 | Illinois | $1,208,238,823 |
| 7 | Washington | $1,061,639,428 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | $924,915,927 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $784,148,339 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | $644,038,774 |
| 11 | Georgia | $607,482,513 |
| 12 | Oregon | $544,914,550 |
| 13 | Ohio | $505,601,547 |
| 14 | Virginia | $490,487,057 |
| 15 | Maryland | $460,032,638 |
Rhode Island exports scrap and waste all over the world. Here are the ten biggest importers of Rhode Island scrap and waste:
| 1 | Canada | $242,082,822 |
| 2 | Turkey | $190,260,075 |
| 3 | Germany | $86,248,123 |
| 4 | Italy | $71,996,044 |
| 5 | Egypt | $13,268,208 |
| 6 | Belgium | $11,707,432 |
| 7 | China | $11,102,657 |
| 8 | Vietnam | $9,697,288 |
| 9 | Sweden | $3,425,180 |
| 10 | United Kingdom | $1,402,006 |
Note that Rhode Island sent $13 million worth of scrap and waste to Egypt, a country we don’t exactly have great diplomatic relations with right now. And also note that Canada imports more of our scrap and waste than any other country in the world. I’d love to know what companies there are doing with it.