US businesses could feel the burden of widened sanctions on North Korea

New sanctions unveiled by the Trump administration that are intended to put a greater financial squeeze on North Korea may actually end up ensnaring American investors and companies who have developed joint ventures in China or frequently work with overseas suppliers and factories.

President Trump announced the expanded sanctions during a trilateral lunch Thursday with his counterparts in Japan and South Korea, declaring it "unacceptable" that various foreign entities continued to lend financial support to the "criminal [and] rogue" North Korean regime.

"Foreign banks will face a clear choice: do business with the United States or facilitate trade with the lawless regime in North Korea," Trump later added.

The executive order governing the sanctions grants Treasury Department officials the authority to enforce asset freezes on individuals, companies, and foreign banks who provide "goods, services or technology" to the isolated communist land, Trump said. The order also paves the way for the U.S. to identify new industries that could be targeted, including fishing, manufacturing, and textiles, among others.

Initial details on which individuals and entities will placed on the Specially Designated Nationals list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control were scarce. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Thursday his department would "do designations on a rolling basis." So-called SDNs usually have their assets blocked or frozen and are generally off limits for U.S. companies to work with.