How Much Is a Customs Bond?
A continuous customs bond at the $50,000 CBP minimum runs $400–$1,000 a year in premium. A single entry bond for one shipment starts around $100 and scales roughly $1–$3 per $1,000 of entered value above that. Those two numbers answer "how much does it cost" — but they don't answer the more important 2026 question: is your bond even the right size anymore? Stacked tariffs are inflating trailing 12-month duty totals, and CBP sizes your continuous bond off that number, not off last year's number.
| Bond | Penal Sum | What You Pay (Premium) |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous, $50K (floor) | $50,000 | $400–$1,000/yr |
| Continuous, $100K | $100,000 | $500–$2,000/yr |
| Continuous, $250K | $250,000 | $1,250–$5,000/yr |
| Single entry (per $1,000 entered value) | Entered value + duties | $100 min, then ~$1–$3/$1,000 |
Premium ranges reflect typical rate bands at standard risk; your quote depends on compliance history and, for larger bonds, financials. Penal sum for continuous bonds is 10% of prior 12-month duties with a $50,000 floor (see below); single entry penal sum has a $100 statutory minimum under 19 CFR 113.13.
Cost Has Two Inputs: Bond Size, Then Premium Rate
CBP doesn't price your bond — it sets the penal sum, the dollar amount your surety is on the hook for. Under 19 CFR 113.13, the statutory floor for any CBP bond is $100, and CBP has discretion to set it higher based on your duty payment record, compliance history, and merchandise. For the standard Activity Code 1 continuous bond, CBP applies that discretion through a published formula: 10% of the duties, taxes, and fees paid in the prior 12 months, rounded up, with a $50,000 minimum.
Your surety then prices the premium — what you actually pay — against that penal sum. For a standard-risk importer at the $50,000 floor, premium typically lands at 0.8%–2% of the penal sum ($400–$1,000). Larger continuous bonds, new importers with no track record, and single entry bonds on flagged merchandise (subject to antidumping/countervailing duty orders, FDA, USDA, or quota) carry higher rates because the surety is pricing more actual risk, not just a bigger number.
The 2026 Continuous Bond Formula
19 CFR 113.13 sets the discretionary floor; CBP Monetary Guidelines apply the 10%-of-duties formula in practice. Example is illustrative, not a specific importer's filing.
Continuous Bond ($50K) Premium by Importer Profile
Based on a $50,000 bond amount
- Established, clean compliance recordRate: 0.8%–1.2%$400–$600
- Standard, some import historyRate: 1.2%–1.6%$600–$800
- New importer, no CBP track recordRate: 1.6%–2%$800–$1,000
Continuous bonds at the $50,000 floor are largely rate-based rather than fully underwritten; sureties reprice at renewal off ACE compliance data, not a credit pull.
What Actually Moves Your Premium
Bond size (the 10% formula) sets the ceiling on what CBP can collect. Premium — the number on your invoice — is a separate risk decision the surety makes. At the standard $50,000 floor, most sureties don't run a full underwriting file; premium tracks your ACE compliance record (late payments, prior insufficiency notices, entry rejections) more than your business credit score.
That changes once the bond amount climbs past roughly $100,000–$150,000 or the importer is brand new with no duty-payment history. At that point sureties start asking for financial statements, and premium can range 2%–5% of penal sum for weaker files — well above the "$400 minimum" number most search results lead with.
Premium is fully earned at issuance on nearly all CBP continuous bonds. Downsizing or cancelling mid-term doesn't get you a pro-rated refund, so the better lever is getting the size right up front — run your current duty total through the continuous customs bond calculator before you buy or renew.
The 2026 Twist: Tariffs Inflate Bond Size, Not Just Premium
Every cost table on this page, and everyone else's, quotes premium ranges that assume your bond is sized correctly. In 2026 that assumption is breaking for a lot of importers. Section 232 steel and aluminum duties, Section 301 China-origin tariffs, and the reciprocal/IEEPA tariff layer have been stacking on the same shipments since 2025 — and because the continuous bond formula runs off your trailing 12-month duty total, every tariff increase flows straight into your required bond amount, whether or not your shipment volume changed at all.
CBP runs sufficiency checks automatically in ACE. When the math no longer works, the notice isn't optional: under 19 CFR 113.13(c), CBP gives you 15 days from the date of notification to remedy the deficiency, usually by replacing the bond at a higher penal sum. Miss that window and that same subsection lets CBP require cash deposits or single transaction bonds on every entry instead — the most expensive outcome on this page by a wide margin.
The fix costs nothing to check: total your duties, taxes, and fees over the last 12 months, apply 10%, and compare it to your current penal sum before CBP does it for you. Our tariff stacking breakdown walks through which duty layers are hitting which import categories hardest, and you can get a re-sized bond quote with your current duty figure rather than waiting for the insufficiency letter.
Premium vs. Penal Sum, in CBP's Own Language
Neither regulation uses the word "price." Here's what the actual text says the bond guarantees, and what you separately pay to have it issued.
Official CBP Requirements
"The amount of any CBP bond must not be less than $100, except when the law or regulation expressly provides that a lesser amount may be taken."U.S. Customs and Border Protection • 19 CFR § 113.13(a) (penal sum floor)
Official CBP Requirements
"The obligors agree to: (i) Deposit, within the time prescribed by law or regulation, any duties, taxes, and charges imposed, or estimated to be due, at the time of release or withdrawal; and (ii) Pay, as demanded by CBP, all additional duties, taxes, and charges subsequently found due, legally fixed, and imposed on any entry secured by this bond."U.S. Customs and Border Protection • 19 CFR § 113.62(a) (what the bond actually guarantees)
CBP's authority to require the bond at all traces to 19 U.S.C. § 1623, which lets the Treasury Secretary require security "as deemed necessary for the protection of the revenue." Neither statute sets your premium — that number is purely a private contract between you and your surety.
Paying $100+ per shipment on single entry bonds? There's a crossover point.
Somewhere around 3–4 shipments a year, stacking single entry bonds (plus separate ISF bonds for ocean freight) gets more expensive than a $400+/yr continuous bond. The exact crossover depends on your entered values — the continuous vs. single entry breakeven guide runs the full math.
Run Your Own Numbers
Customs Bond Cost Questions
Is the $50,000 continuous bond minimum the price, or is that something else?
Why did my continuous bond premium go up even though my bond amount stayed at $50,000?
My imports are the same volume as last year — why does CBP say my bond is now too small?
Do I get a refund on the premium if I replace my bond with a smaller one, or cancel it?
Is a single entry bond ever cheaper than a continuous bond in total annual cost?
Does a bad credit score or new business make a customs bond cost more?
More on Customs Bonds
Customs Bonds Hub
Continuous, single entry, ISF & TIB — full CBP guide
Single Entry Bond
1x/3x formulas, $100 minimum, same-day
Reconciliation Rider Bonds
Continuous bonds with post-entry duty adjustment coverage
Temporary Import Bond
Duty-free entry for re-exported goods
Bond Types Comparison
Every CBP activity code side by side
Requirements Guide
19 CFR Part 113 explained for first-time importers
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov) and verified before publication. BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-certified, A-minimum rated surety carriers serving all 50 states.
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