Two prominent Federal Reserve watchers said they now expect the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates this year as policy makers react to a darkening economic outlook.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli and former Fed Governor Laurence Meyer both said the central bank will act to bolster an economy that is being buffeted by trade tensions and other headwinds.

“Even if a deal is quickly reached with Mexico, which seems plausible, the damage to business confidence could be lasting, with consequences that might still require a Fed response,’’ Feroli said in a note to clients on Friday. “Accordingly, we now look for two 25 basis point reductions in the federal funds rate target, in September and December.’’

President Donald Trump said late Thursday that the U.S. would put 5% duties on all Mexican imports on June 10, rising in increments to 25% in October, unless Mexico halts “illegal migrants” heading to the U.S. Stocks fell on the news and investors increased bets that the central bank would ease policy this year.

Feroli said the Fed “may well need to cut by much more than 50 basis points’’ if the tariffs on Mexico are raised to 25%.

Meyer, in a note to clients on Thursday before Trump’s tariff announcement, predicted the Fed would reduce rates this year.

“We don’t think the sky is falling,” said Meyer, who heads Monetary Policy Analytics in Washington. “Rather, we think that by September the argument will prevail that, after a long period of patience, a 25-basis-point rate cut would represent a prudent recalibration of monetary policy.”

Meyer listed a sharper-than-expected slowdown in growth, tighter financial conditions, and weak core inflation as reasons why the Fed will “soon become impatient.”

Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said on Thursday, before Trump’s announcement, that the central bank would be prepared to ease policy if it saw mounting risks to the U.S. economic expansion.