Recent changes to U.S. trade policy and the resulting ripple effects will have a limited impact on the global infrastructure sector in the short term, S&P Global Ratings said today in a new report.

The report--titled "For A Resilient Global Infrastructure Sector, The Immediate Impact From Tariffs Will Be Limited"--notes that the sector is typically resilient to market events given how essential it is, the long-term nature of investments and its generally investment-grade rating quality. However, during S&P's review of rated infrastructure entities across the globe, several factors emerged as potentially the most significant sources of credit pressure:

• Access to liquidity
• Global economic uncertainty
• Global supply chain disruptions
• The increased cost of goods and materials
• Regulatory changes or federal cuts

The report also examines credit headwinds and tailwinds for the infrastructure sector region by region. North American infrastructure entities are resilient for now amid the global trade tensions, but capital expenditures and new projects could slow, our report says. Meanwhile, the impact on Asia-Pacific infrastructure entities, in general, has been minimal so far, because of favorable funding conditions and their mostly domestic focus.

Infrastructure projects in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are somewhat insulated from the direct effects of tariff shifts, but they could feel the secondary economic effects. Those secondary effects may also be a factor for Latin American infrastructure entities, but many of them secured long-term financing before the tariff tumult began.