Metric Conversion Act

The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by U.S. President Gerald Ford on December 23, 1975.^[1] It declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", but permitted the use of United States customary units in all activities. As Ford's statement on the signing of the act emphasizes, all conversion was to be "completely voluntary".^[1] The Act also established the United States Metric Board with representatives from scientific, technical, and educational institutions, as well as state and local governments to plan, coordinate, and educate the U.S. people for the Metrication of the United States.

The Metric Board was abolished in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, largely on the suggestion of Frank Mankiewicz and Lyn Nofziger.^[2]

• History of the metric system
• Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988
• US Metric Association

References

Further reading

• "Getting a Better Understanding of the Metric System: Implications if Adopted by the United States" (PDF). U.S. GAO ~ CED-78-128A. U.S. Government Accountability Office. October 20, 1978.
  OCLC 5051893
  .
• "Metric Conversion: Future Progress Depends Upon Private Sector and Public Support" (PDF). U.S. GAO ~ RCED-94-23. U.S. Government Accountability Office. January 13, 1994.
  OCLC 29747342
  .
• "Highway Signs: Conversion to Metric Units Could Be Costly" (PDF). U.S. GAO ~ RCED-95-156. U.S. Government Accountability Office. July 7, 1995.
  OCLC 32988136
  .

• Metric Conversion Act of 1975 as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
• Metric Conversion Act of 1975 as enacted (details) in the US Statutes at Large

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