Why can't I import my etrade information now that it's available in my account?

Financial institutions often have information available for you to see or print out from their websites earlier in the tax season than they have the information formatted and ready for import into tax software.  So---either wait until they have it ready for import, or click "I'll type it in myself" and then key it in by hand.

Oh, I figured once we could download the file it should be ready for import as well.  I thought it was because TurboTax had it hard coded for a specific date.  It would be nice if they just allowed us to log on to our account and see if the file was available for import not just have it locked in at a specific date in case the financial institution has it done early.

TT cannot do what you are asking ... YOU  must log into your financial institution and find out from them when their files will be available for importing.  And don't be too quick to file as many times the broker's will issue corrected statements in March.