A US customs bond is the security an importer gives so that CBP can release goods before every duty, tax and document has been settled. For a project that brings furniture, lighting or building materials from China into the United States, the bond is one of the first items to arrange, because the entry regulation says merchandise is not released at the time of entry without one unless a narrow waiver applies.
This article reads Part 113 (“CBP Bonds”), section 142.4 and the related importer-liability provisions of Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations as issued on 26 August 2026 (eCFR, Title 19, Part 113), which we downloaded on 25 October 2026. It quotes or closely paraphrases the text. It does not read the Treasury surety list, the special bond conditions for carriers, warehouses or foreign trade zones, or any CBP internal guidance on bond amounts, and it is not legal advice. A customs broker or the surety applies these rules to a particular importer.
When a bond is required, and the narrow waiver
Section 142.4(a) is the starting point. It says that, except as provided in two cross-references, merchandise “shall not be released from Customs custody at the time Customs receives the entry documentation” unless “a single entry or continuous bond on Customs Form 301, containing the bond conditions set forth in § 113.62”, executed by an approved corporate surety or secured by cash deposits or obligations of the United States, has been filed. (19 CFR 142.4)
Section 142.4(c) lets the port director waive the surety or cash deposit, but only when all three conditions are met: the value of the merchandise the bond secures does not exceed $2,500; the entry summary documentation is filed and estimated duties, if any, are deposited before release; and the importer “has not been delinquent or otherwise remiss in any transaction with Customs”. The waiver does not apply to quota merchandise, to merchandise that in the port director’s opinion cannot be easily appraised or classified, or to merchandise where, in the port director’s opinion based on past experience, there may be a question of redelivery. A project shipment has to be compared with that $2,500 value limit before anyone relies on the waiver.
The bond does not make the broker or the surety the party that owes the duty. Section 141.1(b)(1) states that liability for duties “constitutes a personal debt due from the importer to the United States”, that payment to a broker “does not relieve the importer of liability if the duties are not paid by the broker”, and that delivery of a customs bond with an entry “is solely to protect the revenue of the United States and does not relieve the importer of liabilities incurred from the importation of merchandise”. In other words, the bond secures the government’s position; the importer remains the debtor.
Single transaction bond versus continuous bond: what the text distinguishes
Part 113 treats the two forms differently in four places: how each is applied for, who approves it, when it takes effect, and what it covers.
| Point | Single transaction bond | Continuous bond | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it secures | A single customs transaction relating to the importation or entry of merchandise | “Multiple transactions relating to the importation or entry of merchandise” | 113.11(a), (b) |
| Application | The port director may require an application, which may be a letter, identifying the value and nature of the merchandise; no application is required when the proper bond in a sufficient amount is filed with the entry summary or entry | Required, submitted to the Director, Revenue Division; states the general character of the merchandise and the duties and taxes that would have been deposited on the importer’s imports in the preceding calendar year | 113.11(a), (b)(1) |
| Approval | By the Revenue Division or the port director where filed | Must be approved by the Revenue Division; “only one continuous bond for a particular activity will be authorized for each principal” | 113.12 |
| Effective date | The date of the transaction identified on CBP Form 301 | The effective date identified on CBP Form 301; the bond and its application may be filed up to 60 days before the requested effective date | 113.26(a)–(c) |
| Updating the application | Not applicable | A new application with the update is due no later than 30 days after a significant change in the information becomes known to the principal | 113.11(b)(2) |
The regulation does not say which form suits which importer. It is a choice between a bond built for one movement and a bond that stays available for later entries, and the text attaches different paperwork to each. The application for a continuous bond must also carry the certification in § 113.11(c): the applicant certifies that the factual information is true and accurate and that any estimates are based on the best information available on the date of the application.
Two details matter for a project importer that has not imported before. If no imports were made in the preceding calendar year, § 113.11(b)(1)(ii) calls for “a statement of the duties and taxes it is estimated will accrue on all importations during the current year”. And if the value or nature of the merchandise will change in any material respect in the next year, the change must be identified. A project importer that moves from lighting in one year to furniture in the next is an example of such a change.
What the bond secures: the conditions in § 113.62
Section 142.4(a) names § 113.62 as the set of conditions the entry bond must contain, and § 113.62 says the bond “may be either a single transaction or a continuous bond”. The conditions are promises by the principal, with the surety jointly and severally liable. In summary:
- (a) Duties, taxes and charges. Deposit what is imposed or estimated at release, and pay what is later found due on any entry secured by the bond.
- (b) Make or complete entry. If goods are released before entry or before the entry is completed, file the documentation CBP needs to decide release, assess duties, collect statistics and check the legal requirements.
- (c) Produce documents and evidence as required by law or regulation, within the time specified.
- (d) Redeliver merchandise on demand if it fails the admission rules, must be examined or appraised, or must be marked with the country of origin. The text adds that a demand for redelivery “will be made no later than 30 days after the date that the merchandise was released or 30 days after the end of the conditional release period (whichever is later)”.
- (e) Rectify non-compliance after notification by marking, cleaning, fumigating, destroying, exporting or doing anything else needed within the period set in the notice.
- (f) Examination elsewhere than at a wharf: hold the goods, transfer them on instruction and keep any customs seal intact.
- (g) Reimbursement and exoneration of the United States for CBP officer compensation and for any risk, loss or expense arising out of the importation.
- (h) Duty-free or reduced-duty entries: use the goods for the purpose that entitles them to that treatment and furnish timely proof.
- (j) Importer Security Filing. Comply with all Importer Security Filing requirements in Part 149; for each default, principal and surety agree to pay liquidated damages of $5,000 for each violation.
- (k) and (l) Electronic filing conditions for entry filers and for advance cargo information, with $5,000 per violation for the inbound air and truck cargo information and Air Cargo Advance Screening conditions.
- (m) Softwood lumber imported from Canada that needs a Canadian export permit.
Paragraph (n) sets the consequence of default. For a default on most conditions the obligors agree to pay liquidated damages “equal to the value of the merchandise involved in the default”, or three times that value if the merchandise is restricted or prohibited merchandise or alcoholic beverages. If the default does not involve merchandise, the figure is $1,000 for each default. A default on the duty-deposit promise alone is measured at two times the unpaid duties, taxes and charges estimated to be due or $1,000, whichever is greater, and the text presumes that default if a payment instrument is returned unpaid by a financial institution or an Automated Clearinghouse payment is not transmitted in time. “Value” means value determined under 19 U.S.C. 1401a.
The Importer Security Filing line is the one most likely to surprise a project buyer, because the $5,000 sits in the bond rather than in a separate penalty schedule. Our reading of the Part 149 filing itself is in a separate article on the Importer Security Filing for contract furniture. For how duties are structured once goods are in, see our article on US import duties on furniture and building materials, and for the marking condition referred to in (d), our reading of 19 CFR Part 134.
How the amount is set
Section 113.13 is short and contains no formula. Paragraph (a) sets a floor: the amount of any CBP bond “must not be less than $100”, except when law or regulation expressly allows a lesser amount. Paragraph (b) then lists what CBP considers in deciding whether an amount is sufficient:
- the principal’s prior record in timely payment of duties, taxes and charges;
- its prior record in complying with demands for redelivery, holding unexamined merchandise intact and other enforcement requirements;
- the value and nature of the merchandise in the transactions to be secured;
- the degree and type of supervision CBP will exercise over the transactions;
- its prior record in honoring bond commitments, including payment of liquidated damages; and
- any additional information in the bond application.
The bond is not set once and forgotten. Under paragraph (c), CBP “will periodically review each bond on file” and, if it finds a bond inadequate, notifies the principal and surety in writing; the principal then has 15 days from the date of notification to remedy the deficiency. In the meantime CBP may give written notice that additional security in the form of a cash deposit or a single transaction bond may be required for any and all of the principal’s transactions until the deficiency is remedied. Paragraph (d) adds that CBP may “immediately require additional security” if it believes that accepting a transaction under a continuous bond would place the revenue in jeopardy or hamper enforcement.
A dollar figure quoted for a continuous bond is therefore the result of those factors applied to a particular importer. The text we read states no minimum above $100 and no percentage of duties, so the basis for a quoted amount is a fair question to put to the surety or broker.
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Sureties, cash deposits and what must appear on the bond
Section 113.37(a) refers to Treasury Department Circular 570, the list of corporations authorized to act as sureties, and says that “no corporation will be accepted as surety on a bond if not named in the current Circular”, with each bond kept within the limit the Circular states for that corporation unless the excess is protected as prescribed in 31 CFR 223.11. The quoted rule begins with “Unless otherwise directed by the Commissioner of CBP”, so the Commissioner can direct otherwise; absent that, a surety that is not on the Circular is not accepted.
Cash is an alternative. Under § 113.40(a), the Director, Revenue Division (or, for single transaction bonds, a port director) may accept United States money, certain US Treasury obligations or certificates of indebtedness “in an amount equal to the face amount of the bond that would be required”. The option to deposit cash or US obligations in lieu of sureties “is at the option of the importer”; a CBP Form 301 designating the activity must still be filed; the deposit is accepted for a term of no more than one year; and additional deposits may be required.
The bond itself has formal requirements. Under § 113.21, the names of the principal and sureties and their places of residence must appear; a corporate principal or surety is identified by its legal designation and the address of its principal place of business; each bond bears the date it was executed; the amount is stated in figures; abbreviations are not permitted except in dates and the state of incorporation; and lines must be drawn through all unfilled spaces. A principal may list trade names and unincorporated divisions that are authorized to use the bond in their own name.
Changing and ending a bond: riders, effective dates and termination
Section 113.24 provides riders for the changes importers are most likely to need: a change of the principal’s name, a change of address, and the addition or deletion of trade names and unincorporated divisions. A rider must be signed, sealed, witnessed and executed like the bond, and it states its own effective date. A rider that deletes trade names takes effect on its stated date only if that date is at least 10 business days after the port receives it; otherwise it takes effect at the close of business on the tenth business day after receipt (§ 113.26(e)).
Termination is governed by § 113.27. A principal ends a bond by a written request mailed, faxed or emailed to the Revenue Division, and termination takes effect on the requested date if that date is at least 10 business days after CBP receives the request; with no date requested, it takes effect on the tenth business day. A surety “may not disavow already incurred obligations” but may end its agreement to accept future obligations, on reasonable notice to the Revenue Division and to the principal; the text treats thirty days as reasonable unless the surety shows a shorter time is reasonable. Paragraph (c) states the effect: “no new customs transactions may be charged against the bond”, and a new bond on CBP Form 301 with the appropriate conditions “must be filed before further customs activity may be transacted”.
For a project importer, the practical reading is that a lapse is a break in the ability to enter goods, and that the bond’s principal name must match the party actually entering the goods. Section 142.4(b)(2) deals with one version of that mismatch: if entry is made in the name of an agent supported by the agent’s bond, or in the name of a principal supported by the principal’s bond, and the entry summary is later filed in the name of the other party, the party named in the entry summary must file a bond on Form 301 with the § 113.62 conditions. Section 141.20 separately provides a declaration of the actual owner and, if the consignee wants relief from contractual liability for increased and additional duties, a bond of the actual owner filed within 90 days of entry; if the actual owner is a nonresident, § 141.20(c) requires that bond to carry a resident corporate surety. (19 CFR Part 141)
Bonds for missing documents
Sometimes goods are entered before a required document is ready. Section 113.41 says the importer then indicates the missing document in box 16 of CBP Form 7501, or its electronic equivalent, and whether it gives a bond or stipulates to produce the document. Section 113.42 sets the period: unless another period is fixed by law or regulation, the document must be delivered “within 120 days from the date of notice from CBP requesting such document”. Under § 113.43(a), if the document is not produced within 120 days from the date of the transaction, the port director may, on written application of the importer, extend the period once, by not more than 60 days. An application received more than 60 days after the period expires is not allowed (§ 113.43(b)).
If a continuous bond secures the document and the importer fails to produce it, § 113.45 sets the claim for liquidated damages at the amount of the single transaction bond that would have been taken had the transaction been covered by a single transaction bond. A free-entry or reduced-duty document produced before liquidation, or within the period in which a valid reliquidation may be completed, can still satisfy the requirement and cancel the bond charge if the failure to file was not due to willful negligence or fraudulent intent (§ 113.43(c)).
A version note: a pending amendment to § 113.62
On the eCFR page for § 113.62 there is a banner linking to an amendment published at 91 FR 55224 on 26 August 2026. We read that document: it is the final rule “Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Electronic Export Manifest for Rail Cargo” (Federal Register document 2026-17390), which adds a paragraph (k)(3) to § 113.62 on advance outbound information, with liquidated damages of $5,000 for each violation, and revises paragraph (n)(1) to refer to it. The rule states that it is effective on 26 October 2026 and that CBP will begin enforcing it on 26 October 2027. It concerns rail cargo leaving the United States, not the import-side conditions summarized above.
A second item is only a proposal. CBP published a proposed rule titled “Electronic Bond Transmission” on 13 February 2026 (Federal Register document 2026-02961), which according to its summary would require most bonds to be transmitted to CBP electronically by the surety, or by the principal on a bond secured by cash in lieu of surety, and set a comment deadline of 14 April 2026. When we searched the Federal Register on 25 October 2026 we found no final rule under that title, so the Part 113 text above is the text in force; we did not read the proposal beyond its summary.
Questions to put to the broker or surety before the first entry
The text suggests a practical list of questions to put in writing. None of them needs a legal view; each maps to a section above.
- Which form is being filed, a single transaction bond or a continuous bond, and under which activity? (§§ 113.11, 113.12)
- Which name is the principal on the bond, and does it match the party that will be named on the entry and the entry summary? (§§ 113.21, 142.4(b)(2))
- On what basis was the amount set, with reference to the factors in § 113.13(b), and what happens if CBP asks for additional security? (§ 113.13(c), (d))
- Is the surety named in the current Treasury Circular 570, or is the importer depositing cash instead? (§§ 113.37(a), 113.40)
- What is the effective date on Form 301, and is it early enough, given that a continuous bond may be filed up to 60 days ahead? (§ 113.26)
- Does the bond carry the Importer Security Filing condition, and who is responsible for filing the ISF so the $5,000 per violation is not triggered? (§ 113.62(j))
- How would a name change, an address change or a new trade name be handled by rider, and how long does a termination take? (§§ 113.24, 113.27)
Frequently asked questions about US customs bonds
What is a continuous customs bond?
Section 113.11(b) describes a continuous bond as one that secures multiple transactions relating to the importation or entry of merchandise. It requires an application to the Director, Revenue Division, stating the general character of the merchandise and the duties and taxes on the importer’s imports in the preceding calendar year, and it must be approved by the Revenue Division under § 113.12.
What is the difference between a single transaction bond and a continuous bond?
Under Part 113 a single transaction bond secures one customs transaction and is effective on the transaction date shown on CBP Form 301. A continuous bond secures multiple transactions, is effective on the date shown on Form 301, and may be filed up to 60 days before that date. Only one continuous bond for a particular activity is authorized for each principal.
Is a customs bond mandatory for every import?
Section 142.4(a) says merchandise is not released at the time of entry unless a single entry or continuous bond on CBP Form 301 has been filed. Section 142.4(c) lets a port director waive the surety or cash deposit only where the merchandise value does not exceed $2,500, duties are deposited before release and the importer has not been delinquent, and not for quota merchandise or goods that cannot be easily appraised or classified.
Does the bond pay the duties for the importer?
No. Section 141.1(b)(1) states that duty liability is a personal debt of the importer and that delivery of a customs bond with an entry is solely to protect the revenue of the United States and does not relieve the importer of liabilities incurred from the importation of merchandise.
What does the bond say about the Importer Security Filing?
Section 113.62(j) makes the principal agree to comply with all Importer Security Filing requirements in Part 149. If the principal defaults on any obligation under it, the principal and surety jointly and severally agree to pay liquidated damages of $5,000 for each violation.
How does an importer end a bond?
Section 113.27(a) requires a written request to the Revenue Division. Termination takes effect on the requested date if that date is at least 10 business days after CBP receives the request, or on the tenth business day after receipt if no date is requested. After termination no new customs transactions may be charged against the bond, and a new bond must be filed before further customs activity.
Can cash be used instead of a surety?
Section 113.40(a) allows the Director, Revenue Division, or a port director for single transaction bonds, to accept United States money or certain US obligations in an amount equal to the face amount of the required bond. The option is the importer’s, a Form 301 designating the activity is still filed, and the deposit is accepted for no more than one year.
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