A new offensive in the U.S.-China trade war appeared to loom on the horizon on Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration was thought to be ready to place tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods after the public comment period on those measures ended at 12:00 a.m. ET on Friday. Beijing has indicated any such move would be quickly followed by its own retaliation.

As those tensions threaten to spill over into more areas of commerce, some economists are predicting that the conflict between the world's two largest economies could last well beyond the U.S. midterm elections in November.

"I think we could see two more years of serious tension in the U.S.-China trade relationship," said Derek Scissors, Asia economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy think-tank based in Washington.

"What the U.S. wants is ... very serious changes in Chinese trade behavior and maybe domestic economic behavior," he added.

Speaking with CNBC's Dan Murphy on Friday, Scissors said he was unsure if there was an "off ramp" for the recent tension in U.S.-China trade relations.