U.S. proposes halting imports of foreign drones.
Today's events
Foreign drone imports.
The Federal Communications Commission proposed prohibiting further importation and marketing of previously authorized foreign-made drones, drone components, and video-surveillance equipment already on its national-security Covered List; comments close September 23.1Aug 24 · FCCCanadian duties paused.
A presidential proclamation temporarily suspends the additional duties on Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy, and motor vehicles that took effect August 19 under Proclamations 11046, 11047, and 11048.2Aug 24 · Fed. Reg.Congo peace roadmap.
Congo's government and the March 23 Movement met August 17–21 in Switzerland with Qatar, the United States, Togo and the African Union, agreeing a negotiating roadmap and a first ceasefire-verification mission at Minembwe on August 24.3Aug 22 · StateExport blacklist trimmed.
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security removed a Turkish company and two Hong Kong addresses tied to Arrow Electronics from the export-control Entity List in two final rules effective August 21.4Aug 24 · CommerceUkraine at thirty-five.
Secretary of State Rubio marked Ukraine's 35th independence anniversary, restating U.S. commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty and to a negotiated settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war.5Aug 24 · StateDelegation in Dalian.
A U.S. interagency delegation led by Senior Official Casey Mace joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's third senior officials' meetings in Dalian, China, running August 17–28.6Aug 22 · StateCaribbean digital infrastructure.
Rubio spoke with Dominican Foreign Minister Víctor Bisonó Haza, underscoring secure and trusted digital infrastructure for economic resilience and regional security, and discussing expanded bilateral trade and investment.7Aug 22 · StateData-center bills.
Two House measures introduced August 20 take aim at data-center development: the No Data Center NDAs Act and the Protecting Local Control of Data Centers Act.8Aug 20 · HouseCancer institute licensing.
The National Cancer Institute offered T-cell receptors targeting human papillomavirus types 6 and 11 for licensing and co-development, aimed at recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and anogenital warts.9Aug 24 · NIH
This week
TikTok settlement.
The Justice Department settled its children's-privacy suit against TikTok and ByteDance for $400 million on August 21. The structure is split: $300 million is payable now, and the remaining $100 million only once a prior consent decree is vacated, so a quarter of the total depends on a court action that has not happened yet. First in the August 23 daily.2Aug 21 · DOJSanta Ynez pipeline.
A federal court in California upheld the Energy Department's Defense Production Act order restarting the offshore line on August 21, rejecting the state's bid to shut it down. The order returns 50,000 barrels a day to the market. The Defense Production Act is a wartime industrial-mobilization authority, and here it was used to override a state government's objection to a single piece of oil infrastructure. Carried in the August 23 daily.3Aug 21 · DOJEddystone stays online.
The Energy Department ordered the PJM grid operator and Constellation to keep two Eddystone generating units in Pennsylvania available from August 23 through November 20. The units were slated to close in May 2025; this order keeps them available fifteen months past that date. It is the week's second action to hold existing supply in place, alongside the Santa Ynez ruling. Carried August 23.4Aug 21 · DOEMiddletown Works.
The Energy Department awarded Cleveland-Cliffs $500 million on August 21 toward a $1 billion rebuild of its blast furnace in Middletown, Ohio. The company had found that customers would not pay a premium for green steel, so the federal half of the cost goes to conventional capacity. It is the largest dollar commitment in the week's federal output. Carried August 23.7Aug 21 · DOE
Allied Governments
Kyiv missile deal.
Britain cleared defence firm MBDA to release classified information on UK components of the long-range SCALP missile, letting France and Ukraine establish assembly lines in Ukraine, as Burnham visited Kyiv.aAug 23 · UK No.10Defence financing bank.
Burnham and Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden discussed how the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank and the Multilateral Defence Mechanism could complement each other to support defence supply chains.bAug 24 · UK No.10Britain and Brussels.
Burnham told European Council President Antonio Costa on the train to Kyiv that the UK had to be bolder about getting closer to the bloc, ahead of a UK–EU summit later this year.cAug 24 · UK No.10
Voices
“The United States is committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and continues to work to support a negotiated settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war that establishes a lasting and durable peace.”
Sec. of State Marco Rubio · Aug 245
“I found as a fact that Canada is discriminating against the commerce of the United States by banning the purchase, distribution, or retailing of U.S. alcoholic beverages…”
Presidential Proclamation on Canadian duties · Aug 242
“…equipment that has been determined to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of United States persons.”
FCC Public Notice, PS Docket No. 26-184 · Aug 241
“The Parties agreed that the order of negotiation of the protocols does not dictate the order of implementation of the protocols.”
Congo–M23 Joint Statement, Doha Process · Aug 223
“The ERC makes all decisions to add an entry to the Entity List by majority vote and makes all decisions to remove or modify an entry by unanimous vote.”
Bureau of Industry and Security, End-User Review Committee · Aug 244
“The inventors further showed that these TCR-engineered T cells effectively eliminated HPV 6/11-infected target cells.”
National Cancer Institute licensing notice · Aug 249
Sources
- Federal Register (FCC), “Comment Sought on Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Certain Covered UAS and UAS Critical Components and Equipment Listed in Section 1709 of FY2025 NDAA,” August 24, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/covered-uas-import-prohibition
- Federal Register, “Temporary Suspension of Additional Duties To Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States With Respect to Alcoholic Beverages, Dairy, and Motor Vehicles,” August 24, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/canada-duties-suspension
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement Between the Representatives of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Representatives of the Alliance Fleuve Congo/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) on the Doha Process,” August 22, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/doha-process-joint-statement
- Federal Register (Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security), “Revisions to the Entity List,” August 24, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/revisions-to-the-entity-list
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Ukraine National Day,” August 24, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/ukraine-national-day
- U.S. Dept. of State, “United States Participates in Third APEC 2026 Senior Officials' Meetings in Dalian, China,” August 22, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/apec-2026-som3-dalian
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Secretary Rubio's Call with Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Bisonó Haza,” August 22, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/rubio-call-dominican-republic
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, “H.R. 10118 (IH) — No Data Center NDAs Act,” introduced in the House August 20, 2026. govinfo.gov/app/details/…/hr10118ih
- Federal Register (National Institutes of Health), “Government Owned Invention Available for License: T Cell Receptors Targeting HPV 6 or HPV 11,” August 24, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/tcr-hpv-6-11-license
- UK Prime Minister's Office (No.10), “Britain is 100% behind you: Prime Minister Andy Burnham visits Kyiv on Ukrainian Independence Day for first international trip,” August 23, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/burnham-visits-kyiv
- UK Prime Minister's Office (No.10), “PM meeting with Prime Minister Frieden of Luxembourg: 23 August 2026,” August 24, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/pm-meeting-frieden-luxembourg
- UK Prime Minister's Office (No.10), “PM meeting with President Costa of the European Council: 23 August 2026,” August 24, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/pm-meeting-costa-european-council