Australia's most senior public servant, Martin Parkinson, has taken a veiled swipe at the short-sightedness of Donald Trump's pledge to tear up the Trans-Pacific Partnership and scale back the United States' economic leadership in Asia.

Dr Parkinson, who heads the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, said the model of US "economic diplomacy" remains the "right bet for our region" despite the nationalistic instincts and policy positions of the incoming President.

"Allowing a short-term domestic focus to be the only prism through which policy is made surely risks the gains the US has made in our region. Or to put it another way, there is a clear external dimension to any commitment to 'make America great again'," Mr Parkinson told a gathering of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia in Sydney on Wednesday.

"There is clearly a need for the US to be increasingly strategic and agile in our region and to resist the temptation to focus on short-term expediency."