Originally Posted by crankyusi
If I'm flying Continental to Guam (territory of USA), and I hold a USA passport and the first flight originates in mainland USA, is there any difference when arriving at Guam if I transit via Hawaii versus Japan? In other words, as a USA citizen, if my flights are wholly between USA airport (say LAX-HNL-GUM), I think I'm not restricted as to the items I bring. However, if I fly LAX-Japan on UA and then connect to a Continental NRT-GUM on Continental, am I then subjected to a different set of customs rules (ie, maximum $400 of merchandise) since I transited an international airport on the inbound flights?
Thanks to anyone that can help.
If they treat Guam the same as the Virgin Islands, then you're allowed 1200USD of duty free products to bring back to the mainland, provided you bought at least 600 or 800 in Guam (basically, you're allowed 1200USD total if you visit a free port that is also a US Territory/Posession, but if you stop in other countries as well, the lower limit is also included in the 1200USD).
Say you bought 350USD of stuff in JP, then you can bring back upto 850USD of stuff in Guam, and still pay no duty. You can still only bring back upto 400USD of stuff from JP, which then lowers your duty free allowance from Guam to 800USD.