The U.S. credit rating downgrade is feared to hurt exports of South Korean-made information technology (IT) products and automobiles, a report by a private economic think tank said Wednesday. The Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) report said last week's move by Standard and Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) to cut its credit rating of U.S. government bonds to "AA+" from a sterling "AAA" late last week has raised uncertainties in the financial market.