Final answer:
Mongol trade was characterized by large-scale, empire-wide facilitation of overland trade across Asia, while American Indian trade involved regional networks with essential goods for survival.
Step-by-step explanation:
The differences between Mongol and American Indian trade can be best explained by recognizing that the Mongols, especially during the Pax Mongolica, dominated and actively facilitated the overland trade routes across Asia, enhancing the movement of goods and cultural exchanges along the Silk Roads.
This control was based on their large, contiguous empire which allowed them to ensure the safety of traders and the reduction of taxes, thus encouraging commerce. In contrast, the American Indians engaged in regional trading networks that were smaller in scale and more focused on essential goods for survival rather than luxury items, without creating vast empires that influenced continental or intercontinental trade on the scale of the Mongols.