Why was the European Economic Community an influence on the North American Free Trade Agreement?

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was directly inspired by the success of the European Economic Community (EEC) in eliminating tariffs to stimulate trade among its member nations.12

Proponents of NAFTA looked to the EEC as a model for how regional economic integration could foster prosperity through increased trade and production. By observing the EEC's effectiveness in reducing trade barriers, negotiators sought to replicate those benefits within North America to create one of the world's largest free-trade areas. While NAFTA functioned as a free-trade area rather than a common market or economic union like the European model, the EEC's historical achievements provided a foundational proof of concept for the potential of regional economic cooperation.213