A customs bond is a contract between you as the importer, a surety company and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that guarantees every duty, tax, fee and penalty on your imports will be paid. If you do not pay, the surety does, and then collects from you. Without a bond on file, most commercial shipments into the United States cannot be released from customs.
Getting one is not hard, but the timing catches people out. The bond has to exist before your entry is filed, and that usually means before the ship reaches port. This guide covers when you need a customs bond, how a single transaction bond differs from a continuous bond, how CBP sets the amount, and the steps to get one in place.
What a Customs Bond Is and Who Is Involved
Every customs bond has three parties. The principal is you, the importer of record, who promises to follow customs law and pay what is owed. The surety is an approved corporate surety, usually an insurance company, that backs that promise. The obligee is CBP, the agency the promise is made to.
The bond itself is filed on CBP Form 301, or transmitted electronically through CBP's eBond system. It is not insurance for your cargo. It protects the government, not you, and a claim against it is a debt you still owe to the surety.
Think of the bond as a line of credit that CBP extends to you, with the surety as your guarantor. Because CBP knows it will be paid, it releases your goods before the final duty bill is settled.
A customs bond also carries conditions beyond money. The basic importation bond commits you to redeliver goods if CBP demands it, and to keep unexamined goods intact. Breaking those conditions can trigger liquidated damages that the surety pays and then recovers from you.
When You Need a Customs Bond
Under the federal entry regulations, merchandise is not released from customs custody until a single entry or continuous bond has been filed. That rule covers formal entries, which apply to most commercial shipments valued above $2,500.
For goods valued at $2,500 or less, the port director may waive the surety requirement, provided you file the entry summary, deposit any estimated duties before release and have a clean record with CBP. That waiver does not apply to quota merchandise or goods that CBP considers too risky to release without security.
You also need bond coverage for the Importer Security Filing on ocean cargo. The ISF bond condition carries liquidated damages of $5,000 per violation, and a single transaction bond for ISF is tied to the unique ISF transaction number. If you are still learning that filing, our guide to filing the ISF on time walks through the deadline and data elements.
Other activities have their own bond types: bonded warehouses, foreign trade zones, carriers and temporary importations. For a typical importer bringing goods in by sea, the one that matters is Activity Code 1, basic importation and entry.
Single vs Continuous Customs Bond
Activity Code 1 bonds come in two forms. The right choice depends on how often you import, not on the size of one shipment.
| Single transaction bond | Continuous bond | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | One entry | Every entry for a year, renewing automatically |
| Typical amount | Entered value plus duties, taxes and fees | $50,000 or 10% of a year's duties, taxes and fees |
| Best for | One-off or rare imports | Regular importers |
| Approved by | Port director or Revenue Division | Revenue Division |
| ISF coverage | One single bond per ISF filing | A continuous ISF bond is available |
A single transaction bond (STB) secures one entry, identified by its entry number. It covers that one transaction only. It suits a business that imports once, or a few times a year, because you buy one bond per shipment.
A continuous bond secures all of your entries for a one-year term and renews on its anniversary unless you or the surety terminate it. CBP authorizes only one continuous bond per activity for each importer, so you cannot hold two side by side.
For a regular importer, buying a new STB for every shipment adds a step to each entry and a chance that cargo sits at the port while the bond is arranged. A continuous bond removes that step once a year.
How CBP Sets the Customs Bond Amount
The minimum for any CBP bond is $100, and every bond amount is stated in whole dollars, rounded up. Above that floor, CBP's public bond guidance lays out the formulas its staff use.
Single transaction bond amount
Generally, an STB must be at least the total entered value of the goods plus all duties, taxes and fees. A shipment entered at $40,000 that owes $10,000 in duties, taxes and fees needs a bond of at least $50,000.
Two exceptions change that figure sharply. Unconditionally duty-free goods may be bonded at 10% of entered value. Restricted merchandise, meaning goods subject to another agency's admissibility rules, must be bonded at three times the value of the restricted goods. That same $40,000 shipment, if restricted, needs a $120,000 bond.
Continuous bond amount
For a continuous bond, the minimum is $50,000 or 10% of the duties, taxes and fees you paid over the previous 12 months, whichever is greater. If you had no imports last year, CBP uses your estimate for the next 12 months, and the bond still cannot be less than $50,000.
Continuous bonds are set in steps of $10,000 up to $100,000, then in steps of $100,000. Here is how that works in practice:
- An importer who paid $300,000 in duties, taxes and fees: 10% is $30,000, below the floor, so the bond is $50,000.
- An importer who paid $720,000: 10% is $72,000, which rounds up to an $80,000 bond.
- An importer who paid $1,080,000: 10% is $108,000, above $100,000, so it rounds up to the next $100,000 step, a $200,000 bond.
CBP can add to that figure. Unpaid bills on the account raise the required amount, and the agency weighs your payment record, your compliance history and the nature of the goods when it judges whether a bond is sufficient.
What You Need Before You Apply
A surety or customs broker will ask for the same basic information, because it mirrors what CBP Form 301 and the bond application require:
- Your importer of record number, usually your IRS employer identification number, set up with CBP on Form 5106 if you have never imported before.
- Your legal business name, address and any trade names that will appear on the bond.
- A description of the general character of the goods you import.
- Your duties, taxes and fees for the past 12 months, or an honest estimate for the next 12.
For a single transaction bond you also need the entry details: entered value, estimated duties and whether any of the goods are restricted.
How to Get a Customs Bond in 6 Steps
1. Decide which bond type fits
Count your expected entries for the year. One or two shipments point to an STB; a steady import program points to a continuous bond. If ocean freight is involved, make sure your plan also covers the ISF.
2. Estimate your duty exposure
Work out the duties, taxes and fees on your planned imports. Include every tariff that applies to your goods, not only the base rate, because the bond formula counts all of it.
3. Choose a broker or surety agent
Most importers buy through their licensed customs broker, who works with one or more approved sureties. You can also go straight to a surety agent. A customs bond has two prices: the bond amount CBP requires and the premium the surety charges you for backing it, so compare the premium and any collateral terms.
4. Complete the application
The surety will have you sign the indemnity agreement and the bond on Form 301. That form asks you to tick either the single transaction box or the continuous box, never both, and for an STB to identify the entry or ISF transaction it secures.
5. Transmit the bond through eBond
The surety or broker files the bond electronically. A bond securing an entry must be accepted by eBond before the entry is transmitted, because CBP's ACE system checks that the bond exists before it accepts the entry or entry summary.
6. Time it against the vessel
A continuous bond needs lead time for underwriting and processing, so apply well before your first shipment sails. An STB can be filed with the entry, which makes the vessel's arrival the real deadline. Primo Nautic shows the ship's live position and both the captain's reported ETA and an AI-calculated ETA, so you can see how much time is left before the cargo reaches port.
Bond Insufficiency: Why Tariffs Are Pushing Bonds Up
Because the continuous bond formula is a percentage of duties paid, higher tariffs raise the required bond even when you import exactly the same goods. In fiscal 2025, CBP identified 27,479 bond insufficiencies valued at nearly $3.6 billion, double the 2019 figure, as CNBC reported in February 2026.
A June 2026 Foley analysis made the same point: many importers saw their continuous bond requirements climb because of tariff rates, not import volumes. Sureties are responding with tighter underwriting and more frequent collateral demands, often in the form of a letter of credit.
What happens when CBP flags your bond
CBP periodically reviews every bond on file. If it finds yours inadequate, it notifies you and the surety in writing, and under the bond sufficiency rules you have 15 days from that notice to fix the deficiency. Until you do, CBP may demand a cash deposit or a single transaction bond for any of your entries.
Since only one continuous bond per activity is allowed, the fix is a new bond at the higher amount, with the old one terminated. Liability on the old bond continues for the entries it already covers, which is one reason sureties watch stacked exposure closely.
Tips for Better Results
Forecast forward, not backward. The formula uses the past 12 months, but CBP reviews sufficiency on a rolling basis, so a new tariff that takes effect next quarter can make today's bond too small. Sizing the bond a step above the minimum can cost less than replacing it twice in a year.
Keep your bills current. Unpaid duty bills raise your required bond amount, and bills more than 210 days past due count at 100% of their value.
Track arrivals, not only paperwork. A bond that is ready but filed late still leaves cargo waiting, and every day at the terminal can add costs; our guide to avoiding demurrage charges explains how those fees build. With Primo Nautic set to the Cargo Shipment purpose, you get precise, logistics-focused updates and delay alerts on the vessel carrying your goods.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Entry rejected for no bond. ACE could not find an active bond. Check with your broker that the bond was accepted in eBond and that the importer number on the entry matches the bond exactly, including any suffix.
Insufficiency notice arrived. Ask your surety for a sufficiency report showing duties counted against the bond, then order the replacement bond at once. A late fix can stop you from filing new entries and ISFs.
Surety asks for collateral. This is increasingly common for importers facing high or volatile duties, including antidumping and countervailing duties, where entries can stay open for years. Compare offers, since a replacement bond is a fresh underwriting decision.
Shipment is restricted. Remember the three-times rule for an STB. If your continuous bond is smaller than an entry's requirement, CBP can ask for an additional single transaction bond to cover the difference.
Key Takeaways
A customs bond guarantees CBP that duties, taxes, fees and penalties will be paid, and most commercial imports above $2,500 cannot clear without one. A single transaction bond covers one entry and is usually sized at value plus duties; a continuous bond covers a full year at $50,000 or 10% of the past year's duties, taxes and fees, whichever is higher.
The bond must be in eBond before the entry is filed, so timing it against the vessel's arrival matters as much as the paperwork. With tariffs inflating duty totals, record numbers of importers are receiving insufficiency notices, and a bond sized for the coming year rather than the last one avoids the 15-day scramble to replace it.
