I'm coming back into the United States and I need to bring in more than $10,000. I heard that you are not allowed to bring that much money into the U.S. when you travel. Am I allowed to bring in more than $10,000 to the U.S. when I travel? The simple answer to this question is: YES.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is increasingly stopping and examining imported shipments of food attempting to enter the United States. Often, the FDA does not allow the food to enter the United States by declaring it to be misbranded or adulterated. Typically, refused food is then either destroyed or exported from the United States. There is another option called "reconditioning".
WARNING! U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a record number of CBP Form 28s (Request for Information) and CBP Form 29s (Notice of Action) in 2010, and there is no end in sight. Import Specialists of CBP at ports of entry all over the United States are sending out these forms to importers demanding responses. If the responses are not satisfactory, the CBP officer will demand payment of customs duties. What an importer states in its response to CBP may result in CBP taking no further action, assessing customs duties, issuing a monetary penalty notice, or even referring the case for criminal prosecution.
Now that summer is here, air conditioners are on our minds. It is likely the air conditioner you purchase at the store was imported into the United States, and made in China. The EPA has very specific requirements regarding the importation of generators and motor vehicle engines, including ATVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles, and anything else with a non-road spark ignition engine. EPA is concerned about enforcing emissions standards under the Clean Air Act, and so should you.
You may legally carry or mail any amount of money you want into or out of the United States, but if it is more than $10,000 at one time, you better first report it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Otherwise, you risk U.S. Customs taking it from you, and never getting it back. Why? Because the failure to report the international transportation of money is a violation of the Currency and Foreign Transaction Reporting Act.