Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he's spoken with President Donald Trump about North Korea's continuing to escalate its efforts. | Getty Mnuchin preparing new economic sanctions against North Korea

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday he's preparing new economic sanctions against North Korea for President Donald Trump to consider in response its latest nuclear test.

“It’s clear this behavior is completely unacceptable," Mnuchin said on "Fox News Sunday." "We’ve already started with sanctions against North Korea, but I am going to draft a sanctions package to send to the president for his strong consideration that anybody that wants to do trade or business with them would be prevented from doing trade or business with us."


"We're going to work with our allies," Mnuchin added. "We'll work with China, but people need to cut off North Korea economically. This is unacceptable behavior."

Pyongyang late Saturday night claimed it had a small hydrogen bomb that could be attached to an intercontinental missile, a marked new escalation for the nation, along with an overnight test.

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South Korea said that North Korea is believed to have conducted its sixth underground nuclear test — and the first during the Trump administration — after seismic waves were measured.

Mnuchin said Sunday he's spoken with the president about the escalation, saying: "If countries want to do business with the United States, they obviously will be working with allies and others to cut off North Korea."

Mnuchin would not say whether the latest escalation by Pyongyang would put the U.S. closer to a response involving military action, but he did say there's more the U.S. can do to cut off the nation economically. "Much more than we've done already," he emphasized.

