The United States administration is drawing up a list of targeted sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government.
This follows the former Soviet republic's forced landing of a Ryanair passenger jet and arrest of a journalist on board on 23 May.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden's government was also suspending a 2019 agreement between Washington and Minsk that allowed carriers from each country to use the other's airspace.
It will also be taking other actions, along with the EU and other allies, against the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
She said the US was developing a list of targeted sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government "associated with ongoing abuses of human rights and corruption, the falsification of the 2020 election, and the events of 23 May".
In a statement, she called on Mr Lukashenko to allow a credible international investigation into the forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair passenger jet flying from Greece to Lithuania.
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Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force the plane to land.
It then detained an opposition journalist, Roman Protasevich, who was on board, as well as his girlfriend, drawing condemnation from Europe and the United States.
The United States last year imposed sanctions on eight Belarus officials over an August 2020 election that the West said was rigged.
President Joe Biden said that sanctions against Belarus were "in play", without giving details.
The Treasury Department will develop an executive order for Mr Biden to sign that will provide increased authorities to impose sanctions on elements of Mr Lukashenko's government.
