Dear All,
I just re-found this quotation at http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/5463.cfm
and I thought that it might be worthwhile to remind you of USA
Department of Commerce and NIST thinking from 1994.
Why do U.S. exports have to be metric?
Many of our products that are still not metric are not readily
exportable. In effect, we are imposing a trade barrier on our own
goods.International standards and the regulations of regional trading
blocs require metric units for measurements because the metric system
is the international standard of measurement. More importantly,
customers in other nations have grown up with the metric system of
measurement. Foreign customers are familiar with and expect—usually
prefer—products made to metric measures. They are neither familiar nor
comfortable with U.S. pints and ounces and inches and pounds. On the
shelves of shops in other nations, our inch-pound products are at a
disadvantage. In today's highly competitive world markets, any
disadvantage quickly translates to lost sales and fewer exports. This
inevitably leads to less domestic economic growth, fewer new jobs, and
a lower standard of living than we could otherwise enjoy.
By the way, I have written on costs of non-metrication at
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/CostOfNonMetrication.pdf
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/
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