Senior US officials say that a new round of sanctions related to North Korea is imminent. With literally everything in North Korea already totally sanctioned, however, the administration appears to be set on having to go after businesses outside of North Korea, but with some business ties to them. This is going to mean Chinese banks.



The officials say Trump is “frustrated” that his repeated demands for China to unilaterally solve North Korea, and that moving against Chinese businesses will be an expression of his frustration, expecting that it might convince China to do more.

Officials say that for the time being the banks targeted are only going to be smaller ones, as well as some other private businesses the US believes might be North Korean “shell companies.” The bigger Chinese banks will be left alone, for now.

They say that whether this is the end of it, or how far it goes, would depend on China’s reaction to the new sanctions, and whether they start to do more against North Korea. It’s unlikely that will be the case, and the real question is likely how long the US can throw sanctions at smaller Chinese companies before it starts to impact what is ultimately America’s largest trading partner.