Khosla is executive vice president of strategy and policy with the Public Policy Forum, an independent think tank. Yiota Kokkinos is a senior executive advisor for energy for the forum.<\/p>\n
They said there may be no perfect play for Canada in this trade war, but it\u2019s an opportunity for Canada to get its house and strengthen the capacity of producing industries like agriculture.<\/p>\n
The federal government has made much of diversifying exports to trading partners other than the U.S. However, that could be tough without investment in infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The Port of Vancouver is one of Canada\u2019s busiest hubs for agri-food exports being shipped abroad, handling 40 per cent of Canada\u2019s non-North American trade.<\/p>\n
While the port has increased its volume in recent years<\/a>, Khosla said it\u2019s still \u201cone of the most inefficient ports in the world right now.<\/p>\n Read Also<\/p>\n Underused economic sectors<\/p>\n In a 2025 report<\/a>, the Public Policy Forum identified the need for improvement across several key areas to further Canadian trade.<\/p>\n \u201cIt predated all of this tariff activity, and it predated Carney as he came in,\u201d Khosla said. \u201cOur argument at the time was that Canada is just literally not doing enough to take advantage of its economic sectors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe producing sectors are the ones that matter,\u201d he added, \u201cagriculture, forestry, energy, mining, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n The report identified areas of focus including:<\/p>\n Getting domestic priorities in order, including interprovincial trade<\/p>\n Diversifying export markets to the fullest extent, including Asia and European Union<\/p>\n Preserving Canada\u2019s relationship with the U.S.<\/p>\n Khosla said the current government is already headed in the recommended direction on some files.<\/p>\n \u201cOur outcomes that we were seeking were actually kind of what Carney\u2019s chasing,\u201d he said. \u201cA: think about boosting investment in the country, and B: think about getting stuff done, meaning major projects, and then use those to diversify market access.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney and the current administration have already made moves toward strengthening non-U.S. trade, including in Qatar, China<\/a> and the Indo-Pacific<\/a>.<\/p>\n More work is still necessary to ensure supports are deployed effectively, however.<\/p>\n The cover of the Build Big Things report from the Public Policy Forum, released in May 2025, which focuses on investment in energy, critical minerals and infrastructure projects. Effective deployment of investment<\/p>\n The 2025 federal budget<\/a> set a goal to \u201cenable\u201d $1 trillion in investment<\/a> over five years. Khosla said for this investment to bring results, the government must do sub-sectoral analyses and determine where the money will be best used.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is that investment going to go? How is it going to get monetized? How are we going to work on deal flow? And deal flow means projects, how are we going to make profits for other countries?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOver two decades now, we\u2019ve not been able to do that, and so we\u2019ve got to get deep under the hood, and that could easily mean investments in agriculture too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This could be supported by other goals, like a set target on GDP per capita.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve set a target to double their exports, but it\u2019s not clear exactly where and how that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Khosla added.<\/p>\n The age of free trade may be over<\/p>\n The implotion of U.S.-Canada trade talks has also further jeopardized the possibility of a renewed Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).<\/p>\n When it comes to the implication of August\u2019s trade debacle for the future of North American free trade, Kokkinos said there are two key points to consider.<\/p>\n \u201cOne, these negotiations weren\u2019t CUSMA negotiations, right?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n The negotiations had to do with a slew of threatened U.S. tariffs, not the trade deal itself.<\/p>\n
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