As the relationships between countries shift over the next few decades, expect trade to remain a hot button issue, according to one analyst.

That prediction comes as the U.S. and China continue to square off in a trade war that has roiled global markets. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods, and China threatened to retaliate.

Those developments — which followed speculation that the world's top two economies had been close to inking a trade agreement — sent shockwaves through global markets. As countries, including China, accrue more power on the global stage, investors should expect more trade arguments ahead, according to James Sullivan, head of Asia ex-Japan equity research at J.P. Morgan.

"As we start to move toward a multi-polar world, I think we have to recognize that these trade conversations are not fits and starts," Sullivan told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. "I think we have to recognize as equity investors, in particular, this is now the new normal."

"These trade conversations are now part of the backdrop of global markets for the next ... 10 to 20 years as these countries and economies work out their relative place in the world and how we reorder the overall global structure to account for the rise of China, to account for a multi-polar environment," he said.