Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment Jason Clare said increasing the number of people finishing high school, super-charging the number of people studying science, technology, engineering and maths, boosting exports and improving housing affordability are also key to reversing the rising tide of protectionist, anti-globalisation sentiment.

In a speech to be delivered to the American Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Mr Clare outlined why Australia needs to take urgent action to restore public faith in free trade and open markets.

The US President drew much of his support from angry, frustrated and resentful anti-trade voters who felt the system was rigged against them.

"If you look closely enough you can see the seeds of the same problem taking root here too," Mr Clare said.

"If you are much younger than me you probably haven't experienced a recession in Australia, and unlike the US, real wages have gone up. But the division between wealthy and poorer Australians has also grown.

"It's not on the same scale as the US but it's growing and it is bigger now than it has been at any time since World War II."

Australian companies are doing well but that is not being passed onto employees in the form of higher wages, he said, adding it was no coincidence that One Nation was drawing much of its support from areas with high unemployment.

"The trade debate here in Australia is very different to what it is in the US. The sort of views held by Sanders and Trump are on the fringe of political debate here.

"The two major parties both support free trade. With good reason, we are a trading nation. Trade is the key to our success. It always has been. We rise and fall on what we sell to the rest of the world."

The Australian economy was built on the wreckage of the tariff walls ripped down in the 1980s, with one in five Australian jobs now connected to international trade, he said.

"Despite all of this, guess what? A poll last year showed fewer than three in 10 Australians think trade creates more jobs for Australia.

"In both countries - Australia and the United States - most people think that trade doesn't create jobs. Even though there is plenty of evidence that it does."

Stagnant wages and a lack of opportunity were fuelling the anti-trade sentiment and holding the Australian economy back.

"People have got to feel like their own life is getting better, not worse, and that their kids aren't going to struggle to find a job or buy a home if you expect them to believe it's the most exciting time to be alive or you want them to support free trade."