The Bush administration is expected to announce a ban on "live" landmines and a commitment to use only weapons that are designed to self-destruct, but has refused to sign a 150-nation anti-mine treaty.
The new policy will also double, to €67 million, the amount the US spends annually to locate and remove mines considered hazards to people and serving no deterrent purpose, an official said.
Mr Lincoln Bloomfield, an assistant secretary of state who is President Bush's special adviser on landmines, is expected to announce the new policy at the State Department.
From now on, all new US landmines will be detectable to US authorities and geared to become inert. But those that are considered part of deterring attacks, such as in Korea, will remain in use. Those mines will be timed to self-destruct, but they can be reset to remain operable, the official said.
In Afghanistan and Cambodia, among other countries, long-abandoned landmines serve no military purpose and are devastating to farmers, children and other people who accidentally step on them.