The difference is that subs and vars included in @EXPORT will always be exported to the modules use'ing the module...

Not to be overly retentive here, but that's not quite right. Or at least not sufficiently clear. In the empty list case -

use Some::Module ();

- no symbols are exported, even the ones in @EXPORT. In fact, @EXPORT are only imported in the default (unspecified) case. If you specify your imports explicitly, then you only get what you ask for.