Policymakers lowered rates a quarter point and said that the region’s growth outlook had “deteriorated” because of rising trade tensions.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday as policymakers grappled with heightened economic uncertainty, particularly from President Trump’s chaotic trade policies, that is expected to weaken the region’s economy.

Policymakers, who set rates for the 20 countries that use the euro, lowered their key rate a quarter point to 2.25 percent. It was the seventh consecutive cut since June as the economic outlook has darkened and inflation has slowed.

The region faces the dual challenges of tariffs on goods sent to the United States and diminished demand for exports to other countries as trade uncertainty weighs on the global economy. Europe’s largest economy, Germany, is heavily oriented toward exports.

“The economic outlook is clouded by exceptional uncertainty,” Christine Lagarde, the president of the central bank, said on Thursday at a news conference

Keep reading this article on Andrew Ross Sorkin - DealBook Section Business New York Times.