The impact of a potential trade war with the United States and massive increases in European defence spending and government borrowing loom over a policy meeting Thursday at the European Central Bank, which is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point. Analysts are widely expecting a cut in the European Central Bank's (ECB) benchmark deposit rate to 2.50 per cent, a step to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses in an economy that's struggling to get out of first gear. The bank's monetary policy statement and post-meeting news conference by President Christine Lagarde will be scrutinised for hints about how far the bank will cut rates amid concerns about weak growth. The bank has already reduced the benchmark rate by 1.25 percentage points since June. Meanwhile new concerns that would massively reshuffle the economic picture are likely to intrude: the potential impact of new tariffs on European imports from US President Trump, which could slow growth,