The vote, by 418 votes to two, would make an embargo a virtual certainty. A blockade has already been overwhelmingly approved by 97 votes to one in the Senate, and the White House has indicated that President Bush would sign the trade ban into law.
The vote comes in the same week that the Foreign Office wrote to British tour operators asking them to stop arranging holidays to Burma because of the regime's human rights record.
The House bill would ban imports from Burma for three years, expand the current ban on travel to the US by members of the military government and codify the existing policy of opposing new international loans or technical assistance to the country.
The Senate has backed an indefinite embargo, but US businesses have complained that sanctions should be made temporary because, once imposed by Congress, they are difficult to lift.
The differences between the Senate and House bills will have to be reconciled at a joint meeting on the issue, and the Senate is expected to seek a rapid compromise.
"The US and Europe are united in our support for Burmese democrats and we are determined to squeeze the military dictatorship," Senator John McCain said yesterday.
Ms Suu Kyi, a past winner of the Nobel peace prize, has been held by Burma's military government since May 30, after her motorcade was ambushed by government loyalists. Her National League for Democracy won an election in 1990 but was blocked from taking power. She has spent more than half the time since then under house arrest.
The US had been on the point of imposing sanctions when the restrictions on Ms Suu Kyi's movement were lifted in May last year.
After her arrest Ms Suu Kyi was held in the infamous Insein prison near Rangoon under conditions that the UN described as "absolutely deplorable", but the junta was this month reported to have transferred her to another, undisclosed, location.
Last year the US bought $356m (£221m) worth of goods from Burma, mostly textiles, clothing, and footwear, and sanctions are likely to have a devastating impact on the country's economy.
The EU has also threatened to impose sanctions in the wake of the detention. However, the military junta has said it will not respond to pressure.
An article published by several pro-government newspapers has warned: "This blind and prejudiced meddling in Myanmar's [Burma's] home affairs, supporting one side while opposing the other by America and its west European allies, have adversely affected the nation's internal stability."
Tom Lantos, the California Democrat who sponsored the sanctions bill, said: "It is clear that dialogue is dead, national reconciliation is dead and it is equally clear that we must adopt a new approach toward Burma and that new approach must include economic sanctions."
