Moody’s says new tariffs would provide near term boost to U.S. steel manufacturers

March 2 (Reuters) – Moody’s: * MOODY’S VIEWS ON US TARIFFS ON STEEL AND ALUMINUM IMPORTS. * MOODY’S SAYS IN ASIA, DIRECT ECONOMIC EFFECTS AT MACRO LEVEL TO BE VERY SMALL AS EXPORTS OF ALUMINUM,STEEL TO US TYPICALLY AMOUNT TO LESS THAN 1% OF GDP. * MOODY’S SAYS BASED ON SIZE OF ALUMINUM, STEEL EXPORTS TO US, CANADA AND BAHRAIN WOULD BE MOST EXPOSED DIRECTLY, IF TARIFFS APPLY TO THEM‍. * MOODY’S ON U.S. TARIFFS ON STEEL AND ALUMINUM IMPORTS SAYS MEASURES WOULD BE INDIRECTLY CREDIT NEGATIVE FOR ASIAN STEEL INDUSTRY. * MOODY’S SAYS NEW TARIFFS WOULD PROVIDE NEAR TERM BOOST TO US STEEL MANUFACTURERS, AS STRONGER DOMESTIC DEMAND WILL SUPPORT HIGHER STEEL PRICES. * MOODY’S SAYS US DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS RELYING HEAVILY ON STEEL,ALUMINUM WOULD FACE HIGHER COSTS FOR INPUTS, WHICH THEY WOULD HAVE TO ABSORB OR PASS TO CONSUMERS. * MOODY’S SAYS TARIFFS ON STEEL, ALUMINUM COULD SIGNAL MARKED DETERIORATION IN GLOBAL TRADE RELATIONS. * MOODY’S SAYS TARIFFS ON STEEL, ALUMINUM COULD BE FOLLOWED BY MEASURES FROM US & POTENTIAL RESPONSES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES