The Panama Canal is planning to enter the ports business with a proposal for two terminals, a move that comes amid a high-profile clash between the U.S. and China over the waterway.

The Panama Canal Authority expects to open a tender to operate a port on the Atlantic coast and another on the Pacific, both of which would connect to a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline. They would be owned by the canal and likely operated by a third party, Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the authority, said during an interview Monday in New York.

"We are coming into the game of port terminals,” Vasquez said.