We have studied both the European Union and NAFTA (now called USMCA)

There are nearly 180 regional trade groups in the world and all regional trade agreements must be reported to the WTO. The European Union (EU) is one of the world's regional economic groups. There are 27 Member States in the EU and all of them are located in Europe. From 1957 to 2007, the European Union underwent six expansions and, in the last sixty years, the European Union has become one of the most economically and politically integrated regions of the world (EU website). However, in North America, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has also formed its unique global trading bloc. NAFTA was founded in 1994 and includes the United States, Canada and Mexico. NAFTA's purpose is to remove trade barriers from member countries Although the EU and NAFTA are important integrated regions in the world, at the same time, there are some commonalities in their trading blocs. However, some differences between the EU and NAFTA are based on the different situation of the commercial areas. In this paper, the specific differences between the EU and NAFTA will be analyzed in the first part. Then there are three equal points of UE and NAFTA in the second part of the main body

1.The first difference is the level of regional economic integration. There are five levels which are respectively the free trade area, the customs union, the common market, the economic union and the political union. A political union is the highest degree of national integration, the lowest free trade area. Each REI level combines the properties of the previous level. For the EU and NAFTA, they belong to a different level. The European Union is defined as an economic union which is the fourth level of regional economic integration.

NAFTA belongs to the first level, a free trade area which is the lowest level of regional economic integration. "Economic integration through which countries seek to eliminate all trade barriers between themselves, but each country determines its own barriers against non-members" (Wild, 2002). Due to the geographic factor, Canada and the United States are the most important trading partners between them. In 1989, these two countries wanted to build a free trade zone whose goal was to eliminate all trade tariffs. At the same time, Mexico joined the WTO and wanted to spend its trade. In 1994, NAFTA was formed. Although the North American Free Trade Area removes trade barriers, which means it can facilitate trade and promote economic communication for member countries, the level of NAFTA still remains at its lowest. Unlike the European Union, which has a number of common policies, NAFTA only removes barriers to trade in goods and services.

2.second point is what is different in nature. The EU is the most powerful international organization in the world, it is close to a unified federal state in terms of trade, agriculture and finance, so the EU political system is different from other major trading blocs. In the European Union, it has its own law, currency, policy and flag. All member countries must abide by EU rules, including the government. Compared to the EU, NAFTA has a different nature. North American free trade is a free trade agreement with some labor and environmental agreements. NAFTA members have their own currencies and laws and are all employees.