None of this lands on you if you buy through us
Everything on this page describes what you carry when Ocean Transport USA is not in the middle — the bond, the entry, the classification, the duty, the risk of the goods themselves. On an order through us, we are the importer of record and every one of those is ours.
We explain it in full anyway, because you should know exactly what you are handing over and what it would have cost you to keep. What that means in practice ↓
A short answer and a long one
Yes — if you are the importer of record and the shipment is a formal entry, you need a customs bond. There is no way to file without one and no discretion about it.
The longer answer is about which kind, what it actually costs, and what the bond does and does not protect you from — which is where most of the misunderstanding lives.
What a customs bond is
It is not insurance for you. That is the single most useful thing to understand about it.
A customs bond — also called an import bond, a CBP bond or a US customs bond — is a guarantee to the US government, bought from a surety company, that you will pay what you owe and comply with the rules. If you do not, CBP claims against the bond and the surety pays — and then the surety comes after you for the money. You have not transferred a risk. You have bought the government a guarantee at your own expense.
Two kinds exist.
| Single transaction bond | Continuous bond | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | One entry | Every entry for 12 months |
| Amount | Generally not less than the total entered value plus all duties, taxes and fees | $50,000, or 10% of the duties, taxes and fees you paid in the previous 12 months — whichever is greater |
| Rounding | — | Up, in $10,000 steps to $100,000, then $100,000 steps |
| Covers your ISF? | No — a separate ISF bond is needed | Yes |
| Suits | A genuine one-off | Anyone importing more than about twice a year |
Those figures come from CBP Publication 3569-0224, A Guide for the Public: How CBP Sets Bond Amounts (February 2024). If you find a source quoting Customs Directive 3510-004 instead, it is out of date — that directive was superseded and is no longer public guidance. The formula changed in two ways worth knowing: the base is now a rolling previous 12 months rather than the preceding calendar year, and amounts round up rather than to the nearest step.
The amount is not the price
The $50,000 is the surety’s maximum liability, not what you pay. The premium is a fraction of it and varies by surety, by your history, and by what you import. What the $50,000 does affect is whether a surety will write it for you at all — they are underwriting your ability to pay duty, and a new company with no import history and no US assets is a harder file than an established one.
That underwriting question is the real barrier for a first-time importer, and it is rarely the one they were braced for.
When you do not need one
Informal entries — generally under $2,500 — do not normally require a bond. Duties are assessed and paid at the time of entry, so there is nothing outstanding for a bond to guarantee.
Three qualifications, and each of them catches people:
- CBP can require a formal entry anyway, at its discretion, under 19 CFR § 143.22 — regardless of value.
- Ocean cargo still needs an ISF bond even on an informal entry. The security filing requirement is separate from the entry, and it does not go away because the shipment is small.
- Certain classifications are pushed into formal entry over $250, including articles in Chapter 99, Subchapters III and IV of the tariff schedule — where additional duties sit.
And the $2,500 threshold matters more than it used to. Until June 2026 a shipment under $800 could avoid entry entirely under the de minimis exemption. That exemption is suspended, so a great many shipments that previously needed nothing now need at least an informal entry.
What the bond does not do
It does not cap what you owe. If CBP later decides your classification was wrong and reliquidates the entry, you owe the difference — the bond amount is the surety’s exposure, not a ceiling on your liability.
It does not cover your goods. If the container is lost or damaged, the bond is irrelevant; that is marine cargo insurance, an entirely separate purchase.
And it does not transfer responsibility. The duty is still, in the regulation’s own words, “a personal debt due from the importer to the United States.” The bond just guarantees the government gets paid either way.
The version where there is no bond in your name
The bond is ours, because the goods are ours. We buy from the supplier, we bring them in as importer of record on our own bond, we pay the duty, and then we sell you a delivered product. You never apply to a surety, never get underwritten, and never have a claim made against you.
If you are importing regularly and at volume, get your own bond — it is cheaper and you keep control. If this is a first order, a test, or something small, the bond is a disproportionate amount of machinery for the shipment, and that is exactly the case we exist for.
Tell us what you’re looking for What the importer of record carries
Questions people ask
What is a customs bond?
A guarantee, written by a surety, that the duties, taxes and fees on an import will be paid to the US government and that the importer will comply with customs law. It protects CBP, not the importer — if the bond pays, the surety comes to the importer for the money.
How much does a continuous customs bond cost?
The bond amount and the premium are different numbers. CBP sets the minimum continuous bond amount by formula on the duties, taxes and fees paid in the previous twelve months, with a $50,000 floor; the premium a surety charges for writing it is a fraction of that and is quoted by the surety or broker. This page states the current CBP formula.
Does a small shipment need a customs bond?
Any formal entry needs one, however small the shipment. Informal entries under the $2,500 line generally do not, but some goods cannot use informal entry at all, and the $800 de minimis exemption that used to cover the smallest shipments is suspended.
Whose bond covers an order placed through Ocean Transport USA?
Ours. We are the importer of record on the entry, so the bond, the entry and the duty are in our name, and there is no bond in yours.
Checked CBP Publication 3569-0224, 19 CFR 113, 19 CFR 143.21 and 143.22 verified on . Due for review by .
Keep reading
The other guides
- Importer of record vs customs broker vs sourcing agent
- Who pays tariffs on imports?
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