America's Largest Export is Scrap Paper

Boeing, with its commercial airliners, is likely still America's biggest exporter by value of product.  However, the list of America’s biggest exporters by volume will surprise you.

To get a sense of where America ranks in world trade competitiveness, consider the Port of Los Angeles.  Los Angeles hosts America’s largest container port (those rectangular metal boxes), serving the big cargo ships from Asia. 

Look carefully at these statistics from the port.  For every two containers imported into Los Angeles, one returns to Asia empty. 

The contents of that second container being exported is more than likely than not…junk.  The Journal of Commerce tracks U.S. exporters, by volume, at all of America’s ports.  Leading the list of the top 100 exporters is a company called America Chung Nam, whose business is to export scrap paper to China.  Scrap paper.

America Chung Nam exports 2 ½ times the volume of the No. 2-ranked exporter, who also does some business in scrap paper.  The No. 4 exporter, Sims Metal Management, exports scrap metal to China.  Seven of the top 12 exporters do business in scrap.

Hometown Minnesota heroes Cargill come in at 15^th and 3M ranks a distant 53^rd on the list of top U.S. export companies.

Some 27 of the top 100 exporters are in the recycling business—paper, plastics, and metal.  I’m all for Reduce Reuse Recycle, but when your biggest export is scrap, you no longer rank as a First World nation.