New York was 2nd in sales from wholesale trade in 1997; the sales from wholesale trade in the New York City metropolitan area (including portions of nearby New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania) alone exceeded that of any state. The state ranked 3rd in retail trade, behind California and Texas.
In 1997, state wholesale sales totaled $329 billion, or 10% of the US total. The most valuable categories of goods traded were petroleum and petroleum products, apparel, piece goods and notions, groceries and related products, jewelry, watches, diamonds and other precious stones, woven goods, grain, machinery, equipment and supplies, minerals and metals, and electrical goods. Except for apparel, woven goods, jewelry, and perhaps electrical goods, this list appears to reflect the importance of New York City as a port and transportation center rather than the makeup of state or city industries.
According to the Census of Retail Sales of 1997, 109,098 retail establishments in New York had sales of $149 billion, or 5.9% of the US total. Food stores accounted for 15% of establishments; automotive dealers, 9%; and eating and drinking places, 31%. Food sales added up to $25 billion, and general merchandise sales, $13 billion.
The state's long border with Canada, its important ports on Lakes Erie and Ontario, and its vast harbor on New York Bay ensure it a major role in US foreign trade. About one-quarter of US waterborne imports and exports pass through the New York Customs District (including New York City, Albany, and Newark and Perth Amboy, N.J.). Exports of goods from New York totaled $37 billion in 1998, 4th among the states.