Does an Exporter need to purchase a surety bond to export into the US?

[Dyna]

We are a manufacturing company in Canada and export various products into the US. We used PBB as our customs broker and just recently they have advised us that we need to purchase a surety bond or else pay them to use their bond. Is this surety bond necessary? Is there a difference between sending our shipment through a courier(DHL) or a carrier(when shipping a pallet load) that requires us to have a surety bond?

We have exported into the US for 5 years without any problems and our exports are always duty-free. Our finances are very well and we do not have any debts. We have been in business for a total of 30 years. Thank you in advance for your help.

[Surety Guy]

Dyna,

This is a class of business I have never written before, but I will take an educated guess as to what is going on.

It sounds like your broker is required to have a surety bond to ensure the transportation and delivery of the goods. I would guess that the bond amount changes with the amount of volume exported and they would like you to help cover some of the increased costs (which I would think is something that should be built into their fees).

The surety bondis required of them by the government. I would ask them why they have a change in policy as to why they claim you now need to obtain the bond.

Hopefully that will help to understand a little bit of what is going on. If you have further questions, feel free to post further questions.