<P> On February 10, 1964, the National Bureau of Standards (now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology) issued a statement that it would use the metric system, except where this would have an obvious detrimental effect . </P> <P> In 1968 Congress authorized the U.S. Metric Study, a three - year study of systems of measurement in the United States, with emphasis on the feasibility of metrication . The United States Department of Commerce conducted the study . A 45 - member advisory panel consulted and took testimony from hundreds of consumers, business organizations, labor groups, manufacturers, and state and local officials . The final report of the study concluded that the U.S. would eventually join the rest of the world in the use of the metric system of measurement . The study found that metric units were already implemented in many areas and that their use was increasing . The majority of study participants believed that conversion to the metric system was in the best interests of the United States, particularly in view of the importance of foreign trade and the increasing influence of technology in the United States . </P> <P> The U.S. Metric Study recommended that the United States implement a carefully planned transition to the principal use of the metric system over a decade . Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 "to coordinate and plan the increasing use of the metric system in the United States". Voluntary conversion was initiated, and the United States Metric Board (USMB) was established for planning, coordination, and public education . The public education component led to public awareness of the metric system, but the public response included resistance, apathy, and sometimes ridicule . In 1981 the USMB reported to Congress that it lacked the clear Congressional mandate necessary to bring about national conversion . Because of this ineffectiveness and an effort of the Reagan administration--particularly from Lyn Nofziger's efforts as a White House advisor to the Reagan administration, to reduce federal spending--the USMB was disbanded in the autumn of 1982 . </P> <P> The ending of the USMB increased doubts that metrication would really be implemented . Public and private sector metrication slowed even while competitiveness between nations and demands of global marketplaces increased . </P>

When did the us try to go metric