United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has indicated that there’s a widespread issue with customs bonds—namely, that more companies than ever aren’t paying enough to guarantee coverage of the Trump administration’s broad and hefty tariffs.
A record number of importers are not shelling out enough for customs bonds (also called surety bonds), binding contracts that ensure they will pay all required duties and fees to the federal government, according to CNBC.
CBP told the outlet that during fiscal 2025, it flagged 27,479 “insufficiencies” in customs bonds worth almost $3.6 billion. Customs told the outlet that that’s double the level seen in 2019, when customs bond shortages also surged due to President Donald Trump’s Section 301 tariffs on China-made goods.
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Customs bonds are the predominant tool that CBP uses to ensure that it’s able to collect the appropriate revenue from importers, and the agency often assesses their sufficiency to cover the tariffs and taxes required. An insufficient bond is defined as one where an importer’s liability surpasses 100 percent of their bond capacity.
It’s no surprise that customs bonds are coming up short given the extent of the current tariff burden on importers. CBP collected $200 billion in tariffs between Jan. 20 and Dec. 15, 2025, and that figure is slated to balloon significantly in 2026. In January alone, CBP collected $30 billion in tariffs. Year to date, the agency has collected $124 billion—an increase of more than 300 percent from the same period in 2025.
Most surety or customs bonds range from 0.5 percent to 10 percent of the total bond amount, so a $50,000 bond policy would cost between $250 and $5,000. An importer would only be called upon to pay the amount of their full policy if CBP made claims on the bond.
But in today’s trade landscape, that’s a much bigger possibility than it was in the past.
With the administration’s tariffs in the double digits, companies are seeing their tariff bills—and consequently, their customs bond policies—climb into the stratosphere. Experts told CNBC that importers are now seeing customs bond amounts up to $450 million. The purveyors of the bonds, called surety companies, reported seeing bond increases of more than 200 percent.
All of this could be called into question, though, later this week. Friday, Feb. 20 is the next decision day for the Supreme Court—though it has not released any information about which cases it will rule on. If the court does rule against Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, the government will be on the hook for tariff refunds—and surety companies could be forced to release some of the collateral they’ve collected for the bonds, depending on the new tax and tariff rates that are assessed.
