On the subject of China, Europeans feel like they have been relegated to observer status. Trump administration officials have made few efforts either to brief allies on their China policy or to propose anything like a unified trans-Atlantic strategy. When the Trump administration has engaged Europe on China, such discussions tend to focus on tightening investment screening and preventing the Chinese telecommunications provider Huawei from constructing 5G networks. Those two important issues merit trans-Atlantic consultations. But the Trump administration’s approach — which includes threatening to limit intelligence sharing with any ally that proceeds to build its next generation of mobile infrastructure with Huawei — is a losing strategy. Europeans are tired of taking orders from Mr. Trump’s America, which makes them more inclined to ignore American directives on issues like Huawei.

The president should start over. The United States and Europe need to come to the table as actual partners and begin a much broader dialogue about China’s political, economic and technological ambitions. At the very minimum, the two sides of the Atlantic should be sharing insights on everything from Chinese influence operations to human rights abuses to investments in artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies. More ambitiously, the United States and Europe should aim to fortify their trade relationship; coordinate American and European policies on China’s human rights abuses; and create alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The best way for the United States and Europe to compete with China would be to resolve their own bilateral trade disputes. The more the two sides bicker and threaten each other with more tariffs, the more space they allow for China to continue ignoring international trading rules. When — or if — the two trans-Atlantic partners turn down the heat on their simmering trade war and focus on strengthening trade ties, they should reach out to Japan and other allies that could bolster the West’s economic strength and influence.

Better coordination should be the next item on the trans-Atlantic to do list. In March, when President Xi Jinping visited Paris, President Emmanuel Macron of France invited the chancellor of Germany and the president of the European Commission to join him. Mr. Macron’s intended message was clear: Instead of picking off individual European Union members, China would have to deal with a united Europe. The United States and Europe could send a similar message. The two partners could begin coordinating their messaging on issues like China’s continuing persecution of the Uighurs, or the two Canadian citizens that China is detaining.