(BERLIN) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Monday for further cuts in transatlantic trade barriers, ahead of a farewell visit of US President George W. Bush to Europe.

Merkel wrote in a guest column for the centre-left daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that in light of stiff competition from China, India and Brazil, the United States and the European Union needed to optimise trade conditions.

"That means effective economic reforms and ambitious innovation," she said.

Merkel said slashing red tape linked to trade and unifying product standards would spur economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.

She cited varying EU and US norms and guidelines as a particular problem, noting that creating a single safety standard for the automobile industry, for example, could cut production costs by seven percent.

She said a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showing that removal of transatlantic trade and investment barriers could boost economic growth by three percent.

Merkel said the creation of a Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007, under the German EU presidency, had already produced concrete results including recognition of European balance sheet standards by US stock market authorities.

And she said the United States and the EU had managed to raise awareness in other regions of the importance of intellectual property rights by joining forces.

But the German leader cited an ongoing dispute over the US use of chlorine to wash poultry, which has led to EU calls for an import ban on US chicken, as an area requiring compromise.

She also referred to US plans to scan nearly all incoming cargo for radiation at major seaports as a trade hindrance and called for a deal that would balance security concerns and business interests.

Bush will arrive in Germany on Tuesday for a short visit on what is expected to be his last major tour of the continent before his term ends in January.

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