Every commercial shipment crossing the U.S. border needs a customs bond on file with Customs and Border Protection. Customs-Bonds.com underwrites continuous and single transaction bonds directly — for importers, licensed brokers, ocean and air carriers, bonded warehouses, foreign trade zones, and marine terminals. Standard and non-standard programs. Decisions in hours, not weeks.
A customs bond is the federal government's way of guaranteeing it gets paid. When an importer brings regulated cargo into the United States, CBP does not release that cargo on trust alone — a licensed surety stands behind the importer, promising to make CBP whole if duties, taxes, fees, or penalties go unpaid or if import regulations are broken. Customs-Bonds.com is that surety.
Mechanically, the bond is a contract among three parties. The importer (or broker, carrier, or warehouse operator) is the principal. CBP is the obligee, the party being protected. The surety is the financial guarantor behind the whole arrangement. If the principal defaults, the surety pays CBP and then pursues the principal for reimbursement.
Two formats exist. A single transaction bond covers one shipment at one port on one day. A continuous bond covers every shipment the principal files for an entire year, at any U.S. port, and renews by itself. Importers with more than a handful of entries per year find continuous bonds dramatically cheaper and easier to administer.
The principal is bonded, CBP is protected, and the surety backs the promise with real capital.
Single transaction bonds handle a one-off entry. Continuous bonds cover every filing for twelve rolling months.
Start-ups, thinly capitalized firms, and principals with impaired credit can qualify through our non-standard program.
Every bond we write satisfies CBP regulations, including Importer Security Filing (ISF / 10+2) where applicable.
CBP separates regulated trade activity into numbered categories called activity codes. Customs-Bonds.com writes every one of them in-house — no brokered placements, no guesswork about which surety will answer on your file.
The standard bond for anyone moving commercial goods into U.S. commerce. Guarantees correct duty, tax and fee deposits and compliance with the statutes and regulations governing entry. Issued on a continuous, self-renewing basis.
Underwrites accelerated drawback claims — refunds of duties already paid on merchandise that is later exported or destroyed. Exporters filing under exporter's summary or accelerated payment procedures need this bond on file before the refund is released.
Required of any operator holding cargo that has not yet been formally entered: Class 1 through 11 bonded warehouses, cartmen, lightermen, container freight stations, and importers self-storing bonded goods.
For ocean vessels, commercial aircraft, trucking firms and rail operators moving international cargo into U.S. ports. Covers manifest accuracy, overtime-service payments, and all CBP clearance obligations.
Written for container owners and lessors. Lets reusable transport equipment — containers, chassis, pallets, racks — enter and leave U.S. territory repeatedly without separate entries or duty payments on each trip.
FTZ sites are treated as outside the customs territory of the United States. Foreign goods may be received, stored, manipulated or re-exported without paying duties until they formally enter commerce. This bond also carries Importer Security Filing obligations for zone operators.
Mandatory for CBP-accredited gaugers and commercial laboratories that sample, measure, weigh or test imported merchandise as part of the duty-assessment process.
Secures the labeling duties imposed by the Wool Products Labeling Act, the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act on imported textile and fur goods.
Backs the carrier's duty to properly handle and document bills of lading for imported merchandise, protecting cargo owners and CBP against mis-delivery or undocumented release.
When CBP holds a shipment suspected of infringing a registered copyright, the importer posts this bond to cover potential liability while admissibility is decided.
A specialized instrument tied to U.S. neutrality laws governing vessels and aircraft during foreign armed conflicts. Rarely written, but available when needed.
Secures court costs and related judicial expenses when CBP-seized or condemned merchandise is subject to forfeiture proceedings.
Written for third-party vendors — cleaners, caterers, maintenance crews, ground handlers — requiring access to the customs-controlled side of an international airport.
Lets importers continue bringing in merchandise subject to an International Trade Commission exclusion order during the sixty-day presidential review window, while the bond backstops potential penalties and duties.
For freight consolidators moving in-bond shipments between U.S. ports en route to export. Keeps the cargo under customs control from origin to vessel.
Allows CBP to turn over samples of detained merchandise to a rights-holder for infringement testing. The bond protects the importer against loss or damage to those samples.
Secures compliance with the “10+2” rule requiring advance cargo data for ocean shipments before they depart for U.S. ports. Liquidated damages for non-compliant filings start at $5,000 per filing and climb from there.
Issued to operators of marine terminals that receive, handle or store imported cargo on behalf of ocean carriers. Covers regulatory obligations tied to cargo custody and security at the terminal.
Undersized bonds trigger CBP insufficiency notices and cargo holds. Oversized bonds waste capital and inflate premiums. Getting the number right is its own discipline.
CBP's rule for a continuous Activity Code 1 bond is straightforward on paper: take the duties, taxes and fees the importer paid over the prior twelve months and multiply by ten percent. Round up to the next $10,000 increment if that total is below $1 million, or to the next $100,000 increment if it is above.
The statutory floor sits at $50,000. But the formula is only half of the sufficiency question — the bond must also be large enough to absorb the duty exposure on any one shipment. A single high-value container that exceeds the bonded amount can jam up the entry and trigger CBP correspondence.
CBP issues these when bond capacity no longer matches your trade volume. Do not simply accept the amount printed on the notice. Project the next twelve months of duty exposure with a licensed broker, choose a replacement bond comfortably above that projection, and file a rider or replacement before CBP starts rejecting entries. Waiting costs real money.
Round up to $10K (under $1M duties) or $100K (above $1M).
CBP statutory floor: $50,000.
Must independently cover the duty on the largest single shipment.
The process is deliberately light. Send your application package to underwriting@customs-bonds.com and one of our underwriters will open your file the same business day.
Complete our customs bond application and credit release. Have your CBP importer number (or CBP broker license number), entity formation paperwork, and most recent financial statements ready.
Email the full package to underwriting@customs-bonds.com. We acknowledge every submission the same day and flag anything missing up front so the file does not stall.
You will receive a firm quote sized to your duty history and bond type. Principals who would not qualify under standard underwriting are routed into our non-standard program — which remains CBP-acceptable.
Once premium is received, we issue the bond, transmit it to CBP, and deliver your executed copy. Continuous bonds renew automatically each year unless you tell us otherwise.
It is a federal surety instrument that CBP requires before regulated cargo enters U.S. commerce. Three parties sign on: the principal (importer, broker, carrier, warehouse, etc.), the obligee (CBP), and the surety (the underwriter guaranteeing the principal's obligations). If the principal fails to pay duties or follow the rules, the surety pays CBP and then pursues the principal.
A bond is required whenever commercial merchandise valued above $2,500 enters for consumption, or whenever goods of any value are subject to a Partner Government Agency requirement such as FDA, USDA, EPA or FCC oversight. Informal and personal entries below those thresholds generally do not need a bond.
Continuous if you import more than three or four times a year or file at multiple ports. The continuous bond covers everything for twelve months and renews itself. Single transaction bonds still make sense for genuine one-offs — a first shipment, a sample run, an infrequent import.
For Activity Code 1 continuous bonds, CBP uses ten percent of the duties, taxes and fees paid in the most recent twelve months, rounded up to $10,000 (duties under $1M) or $100,000 (duties over $1M). The minimum is $50,000, and the bond must also cover the duty on any single shipment.
Yes. Our non-standard underwriting program exists specifically for new importers, thinly capitalized firms, and principals with credit issues. We may require collateral, a personal guarantee, or a modified rate, but the bond remains CBP-acceptable — it clears cargo exactly like a standard bond does.
Move fast, and do not take the minimum amount on the letter at face value. Project your next twelve months of duty exposure with a licensed broker, choose a replacement bond comfortably above that projection, and file the rider or new bond before CBP starts rejecting entries. Delay produces cargo holds, liquidated damages, and in bad cases a suspension of filing privileges.
Importer Security Filing, also called “10+2,” is the rule requiring advance cargo data for ocean-borne shipments before the vessel sails for a U.S. port. The bond secures the filer's compliance. Each missed, late, or inaccurate filing can draw liquidated damages of $5,000 or more, so the bond protects both CBP and the importer's continued trade access.
Clean standard files typically move from application to bond-on-file at CBP within one to three business days. Non-standard files may take slightly longer while collateral or guarantees are arranged. Urgent situations — cargo at the port, an imminent sail date — are flagged and handled first.
Send us an application and a current financial and our underwriters will open the file today. Standard and non-standard programs handled under one roof.