If there is ultimately a trade agreement between the U.S. and China, it probably won’t be the one that is needed, Larry Summers, former economic advisor to President Barack Obama, told.

“I don’t think the deal is likely to be the right one,” he said.

“There’s a lot of focus on the cosmetics of the bilateral deficit,” added Summers.

“Instead of trying to mobilize the world together to work to address China’s many problems, we’re launching trade attacks on virtually every part of the world and therefore in a sense strengthening China’s position,” Summers said.

Trade tensions are once again escalating between the two nations and fears of an all-out trade war are hitting the stock market.

“We see this each time the president moves in ways that seem designed to disrupt the negotiations,” Summers said of the market’s moves.

What’s more, while the tariffs aren’t likely to cause a “sudden slowdown,” they are “gradually corrosive” to the economy, he said.

In the end, he expects the economy to start to slow down from here.