World Economies Comparison – NAFTA Vs. European Union
Research NAFTA vs. European Union (world’s 2 largest economic entities). Compare similarities and differences between your assigned countries/economies and how their economic, political, and cultural development since 1992 has influenced their economic growth and trade competitiveness.
Similarities and Differences between NAFTA and EU
The North America Free trade Movement (NAFTA) and European Union (EU) have both played an integral role in promoting trade within their regions. They not only have brought down trade barrier walls but have helped ease tension between their regions economically, culturally, and politically. Politically, NAFTA has helped bridge the gap in opinion and differences between Canada, the US, and Mexico, the NAFTA members (Warleigh-Lack, 2016). Economically, the tariffs have been eased amid prior complaints between the three actions f the high tariffs of trade that used to be imposed. For the EU, the political tensions have also been eased through the cooperation of the nations in the European continent.
Consequently, NAFTA and the EU share similarities and also have their own differences. For the similarities, both NAFTA and EU allow their member countries to ship goods between each other for free. The free trade agreement between them allows goods to be transported without any charges and numerous documentations (Warleigh-Lack, 2016). This is the primary similarity that exists between the two unions.
On the other hand, the differences between them are several. First, the EU members have a common currency (Euros. The NAFTA nations, Mexico, the US, and Canada, each have their own currencies (Warleigh-Lack, 2016). Secondly, the EU nations allow their member citizens to travel between their countries without a visa. NAFTA does not allow the same, expecting the citizens to have visas while traveling from one member country to another (Barrell & Nahhas, 2018). Another difference is that the European Union has its own parliament, NAFTA does not. For NAFTA, the general agreement is based on trade and not union-ship. Finally, citizens in the EU can travel between different countries without a permanent resident card requirement. NAFTA is embroiled in bureaucracy, and numerous paperwork between one is agreed to move from one country to another (Warleigh-Lack, 2016).
References
Barrell, R., & Nahhas, A. (2018). Economic Integration and Bilateral FDI stocks: the impacts of NAFTA and the EU.
Warleigh-Lack, A. (2016). The EU in comparative perspective: comparing the EU and NAFTA. In Comparative Regional Integration (pp. 65-84). Routledge.
