President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, April 7, 2017.

The tariff dispute between the U.S. and China is more about strategic dominance than it is about trade, said Citibank's Asia Pacific regional head of investments.

"It's not something that's likely to go away just because of the meeting that's going to happen on Saturday," said Shrikant Bhat, Citibank's regional head of investments for Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He was referring to a much-anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

However, Bhat added, any effort to douse tensions — such as the U.S. postponing higher tariffs on Chinese imports that were due to take effect in January — will be seen as positive news for the markets.

On Thursday, Asia markets traded higher ahead of the crucial meeting between the two leaders, which many are hoping would help ease trade tensions between the two economic powerhouses.