Metric Conversion Act

{{Short description|U.S. federal statute of 1975}}

{{Infobox U.S. legislation

| name = Metric Conversion Act of 1975

| fullname = An Act to declare a national policy of coordinating the increasing use of the metric system in the United States, and to establish a United States Metric Board to coordinate the voluntary conversion to the metric system

| acronym = MCA

| nickname = Metric Conversion Act of 1975

| enacted by = 94th

| effective date = December 23, 1975

| public law url = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-89/pdf/STATUTE-89-Pg1007.pdf

| cite public law = 94-168

| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|89|1007}}

| acts amended =

| title amended = 15 U.S.C.: Commerce and Trade

| sections created = {{Usc-title-chap|15|6|II}} § 205a et seq.

| sections amended =

| leghisturl = https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/house-bill/8674

| introducedin = House

| introducedbill = {{USBill|94|H.R.|8674}}

| introducedby = Olin E. Teague (D–TX)

| introduceddate = July 16, 1975

| committees = House Science and Technology Committee

| passedbody1 = House

| passeddate1 = September 5, 1975

| passedvote1 = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/94-1975/h376 308-71]

| passedbody2 = Senate

| passeddate2 = December 8, 1975

| passedvote2 = passed, in lieu of {{USBill|94|S.|100}}

| agreedbody3 = House

| agreeddate3 = December 11, 1975

| agreedvote3 = agreed

| signedpresident = Gerald Ford

| signeddate = December 23, 1975

| amendments =

| SCOTUS cases =

}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4732052.1975.002.umich.edu/page/1000 |title=Statement on Signing the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 - December 23, 1975 |last=Ford |first=Gerald R. |date=December 23, 1975 |website=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |pages=1996–1997}} 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". 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.{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/28/AR2006032802142.html | title=Nofziger: A Friend with Whom It Was a Pleasure to Disagree| date=2006-03-29| last1=Mankiewicz| first1=Frank |newspaper=The Washington Post |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208130937/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/28/AR2006032802142.html |archive-date= Dec 8, 2022 }}

Executive Order 12770, signed by President George H. W. Bush on July 25, 1991, directed departments and agencies within the executive branch of the United States Government to "take all appropriate measures within their authority" to use the metric system "as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce" and authorized the Secretary of Commerce "to charter an Interagency Council on Metric Policy ('ICMP'), which will assist the Secretary in coordinating Federal Government-wide implementation of this order."