NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields fell

before the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates

steady at the conclusion of its two-day meeting later on

Wednesday, with investors focused on any clues when a rate cut

is likely.

Stronger economic growth and uncertainty over the impact of

policies including tariffs that are expected to be implemented

by the Trump administration have led traders to pare

expectations on how many more times the U.S. central bank will

cut rates.

Fed funds futures traders see the next rate cut as likely in

May, but not fully priced in until June, with 50 basis points of

cuts in total expected by year end.

With Wednesday's meeting unlikely to offer many surprises,

Fed Chair Jerome Powell may discuss topics including when the

Fed will wind down its quantitative tightening program, said

Thomas Simons, chief U.S. economist at Jefferies in New York.

In QT the Fed is letting bonds roll off its balance sheet

without replacement.

Powell is also expected to face questions on how Trump's

policies will impact the Fed's rate decisions, but he may be

unlikely to offer any details when the outcome is highly

speculative.

Meanwhile data on Thursday showed that the U.S. trade

deficit in goods widened sharply in December, likely as

businesses front-loaded imports in anticipation of broad tariffs

from Trump's new administration.

That has raised speculation that gross domestic product data

for the fourth quarter due on Thursday could be weaker than

previously thought, said Simons, adding that "there's a lot of

people marking down their expectations."

Still, Simons noted that large imports should also raise

inventories, which may have an offsetting impact on the GDP

data.

Two-year Treasury yields were last down 0.6 basis

points on the day at 4.199%.

Benchmark 10-year yields fell 2.7 basis points to

4.522%.

The yield curve between two-year and 10-year yields

flattened by around two basis points to 32.4

basis points.