Australia will be expected to help the United States in a long-term wrestle with China, which two top foreign policy thinkers say is expected to endure beyond the presidency of Donald Trump, and is already causing "frustrations" between Canberra and Washington.

The experts, in a paper published by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, say Australia must get used to its chief ally having a "sharper, broader and deeper" response to China, which is poised to overtake the US as the world's largest economy.

Charles Edel, a former adviser to US secretary of state John Kerry, and John Lee, a former adviser to foreign minister Julie Bishop, make it clear Washington has dug in for a long-term jostle with China and say allies such as Australia will be expected to help.

"While this new strategy is largely being driven by the Trump administration, all indicators are that this is an approach that will likely last well beyond Trump and continue to receive bipartisan support [in Washington]," they say.