U.S. President Donald Trump "doesn't necessarily need a deal" with Beijing in order to be reelected in the 2020 presidential race, says a senior director at the U.S.-China Business Council.

"As long as the trade war that we're in right now isn't having an impact on the United States' economy that is demonstrably bad for regular Americans ... being tough on China, looking tough, is probably enough," Anna Ashton, senior director of government affairs at the U.S.-China Business Council, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Monday.

Still, she added, the new tariffs that went into effect over the weekend — along with those that will take place in December — will "hit every consumer product that Americans buy."

The U.S. and China have increased tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods since last year, and the latest round of levies kicked in on Sunday.

Globally, the trade fight has roiled investment markets and dampened world economic outlook. Domestically, American businesses from farmers to manufacturers to tech firms have been hurt by the tariffs and are urging both sides to refrain from further escalation.

"I have a hard time imagining that we will get to the 2020 election without seeing a significant impact to people's pocketbooks," Ashton said.