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The "what can you carry" story constantly changes, but as of 2009, it does seem it is now ok to bring in smoked meat. No need to vacuum pack it - sandwiches, or cold sliced meat is ok. Of course, this is based on a reading of the current regulations - no guarantee that every US border crossing will follow this interpretation.

When meat is banned, it does not matter if it is vacuum packed - banned, means banned.

The best practice when crossing the border is to answer all the questions asked by the customs officials, and never lie about the things being carried. The customs department has immense power at the border, and you could lose all the stuff you are carrying in addition to having to pay hefty fines. US Customs has a Know before you go page with lots of information.

There does seem to be some misunderstanding regarding cheeses and meats. Even on the US Customs pages, searching for "raw milk cheese" does not return any search results.

US Customs help page at What food can I bring into the U.S. (fruit, cheese, meat, etc) contains all that one needs to know. Hard cured cheese such as parmesan or cheddar are generally admissible, soft cheeses such as brie and soft curd cheese and cheese in water(ricotta, feta, etc.) are not. This is somewhat bad news - brie cannot be brought in! So stick to firm and semi-firm cheeses.

No raw milk cheese aged for less than sixty days may be imported into the US, nor sold in the US by local cheesemakers. But all the (legal) raw milk cheese in Canada also follows this rule - therefore, it is ok to bring in Canadian raw milk cheeses into the US - as far as I can tell! There are rumblings from the US FDA at this time to ban all raw milk cheeses - that would be such a disaster - and so pointless. Just label the food with whatever warning necessary, and let consumers decide. Too much pressure from farm and food producers lobby to curtail free trade here in the US.

On meat from Canada, the above link has this paragraph:The Department of Agriculture has recently relaxed rules for travelers arriving from Canada with food products involving some meat products. Beef and game products are now allowed entry. This includes frozen, cooked, canned or otherwise processed beef, veal, venison, elk, bison, etc. This is good news - this means Schwartz's smoked meat can now be carried from Montreal into the US!

Temporary bans can be put in place at any time - so none of the rules can actually be completely depended upon. This USDA APHIS Animal Product Import page will note special situations for specific countries.

Raw milk cheese external articles:
Cheesy does it - Salon article
Don't cut the cheese - findarticles/national interest
It's Not The Cheese - North Coast Journal