A group of U.S. lawmakers is pushing a strong sanctions bill on North Korea to strictly regulate trade with the communist regime.

Republican Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, submitted the bill on Friday. Seven other lawmakers are co-sponsoring the bill, including Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel.

The bill calls for sanctioning not only U.S. firms but foreign companies also doing business with North Korea.

If illicit transactions with the North are detected, a foreign individual or a foreign government can be sanctioned under U.S. law. The measure is known as the "secondary boycott."

Passage of the bill as is could affect Chinese firms and banks as well as inter-Korean business cooperation such as the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.