DONALD Trump has a $3.8 trillion problem that could lead to China eclipsing the US as the most powerful economy on Earth.

Across the United States, roads, tunnels and bridges are crumbling, and Mr Trump is yet to present a detailed plan on how to fix it.

As the global economy expands and power shifts, the world has begun an infrastructure race — and the US has fallen well behind.

According to the Australian-based Global Infrastructure Hub (GIH), the US has the biggest gap of any country between what it plans to spend on infrastructure and what is needed over the next quarter century.

On current trends, the States is likely to invest $US8.5 trillion between now and 2040, but the GIH found it would need an investment about 45 per cent higher — $12.4 trillion — to meet its needs. That leaves a $3.8 trillion deficit, of which 90 per cent is needed for building and maintaining roads and highways.

There seems to be bipartisan support to fix the problem in Washington, but no real plan on how to fix it.

Mr Trump has acknowledged the crisis, promising a $1 trillion package to rebuild crumbling infrastructure, but he has not articulated how it would be paid for. He has, however, detailed ways to cut red tape to speed up complex road-building projects. Meanwhile, he is pushing to cut business and income taxes before the end of the year, which could limit Washington’s capacity to supercharge infrastructure spending.

GIH chief executive officer Chris Heathcote said the President knew what the problem was but did not have the structures in place to fix it.

“He’s got the right idea. He’s correctly diagnosed the disease: chronic under-investment in infrastructure,” Mr Heathcote told news.com.au from Washington, where he addressed leaders on the infrastructure gap.

“President Trump has recognised the need. He wants to drive deals because that is what he would say is his core differentiator.

“The problem is the federal government doesn’t really do the deals. That’s for the states. He can’t raise that money at federal level.”

The US’s chief economic rival, China, is not facing the same problems.

The country’s booming development over the past decade has been coupled with a massive investment in infrastructure — and that is forecast to continue over the next 23 years.

On current trends, China will invest $26.5 trillion between now and 2040, $1.9 trillion shy of the $28.4 trillion GIH suggests is needed.

“[The Chinese] take this very seriously,” Mr Heathcote told news.com.au.

And research shows the Chinese are on the right track. The International Monetary Fund found that one percentage point of gross domestic product (GDP) invested in infrastructure leads to 1.5 per cent GDP growth within four years.

The warnings come as Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined his goal to for the nation to become the No. 1 superpower within the next 30 years.

He said “it was time for his nation to transform itself into a mighty force” that could lead the entire world on political, economic, military and environmental issues.

In terms of clawing back ground on crumbling infrastructure, Mr Trump could learn from Australia, which has a similar system of government but has as relatively small infrastructure funding gap of $0.158 trillion.

Australia has found success by using alternative structures, such as public-private partnerships (PPPs) and asset recycling, to fund big new projects.

Mr Heathcote said our centralised body Infrastructure Australia was a favourable model because it worked outside of election cycles to identify building priorities and create incentives for private investment. Asset recycling, which sees a government-owned asset such as power poles and wires sold off to pay for new projects, has also helped to pay for new infrastructure without tax hikes.

“Infrastructure Australia sets the priorities, they act independently. You end up with a set of plans that interlock,” Mr Heathcote said.

“The US is different. There’s no central planning.”

When he became president, Mr Trump said his massive rebuilding effort could be boosted by private investment, but he has since backed off that plan, telling politicians that public-private partnerships (PPPs) don’t work, according to The Washington Post.

Mr Heathcote said government budgets were not enough to close the gap.

If new strategies, such as PPPs, are not considered, the only alternatives are increased taxes and debt, which Mr Trump strongly opposes.

“If people are unwilling to countenance user-pay, PPPs and private-sector ownership, then there needs to be a talk about where that money is coming from,” he said.

Mr Heathcote said Mr Trump could leave a lasting legacy if he put in place new structures that centralised long-term infrastructure planning, standardised funding processes, opened up federal grant programs and created better incentives for private companies to invest.

“If I was in Trump’s shoes, and thank God I’m not, the message I would be giving is we need to find a different way of doing this, infrastructure creation. He has to put in place a centralised planning body, make money go as far as possible,” he said.

“My call to arms is for the US to consider what is the best way to make the states more effective to spend the very scarce tax dollars they get.

“It could be a real game-changer. It requires real vision to drive this fundamental change.”

Across the globe, $US97 trillion is needed to meet the globe’s infrastructure needs by 2040.

Australian ambassador the United States, Joe Hockey, told a breakfast of leaders in Washington last week that is was vital for the world to solve this problem.

“Everyone must be an advocate for infrastructure,” he said.

“If we don’t advocate for it, it will cost jobs and reduce the prosperity of all nations.”