The United States stands nearly alone in its resistance to switch to the metric system which creates an unnecessary trade barrier with rest of the world.
By continuing to use the Imperial System, the US has the potential to lose its competitive edge in science and technology.
Switching between the two systems can be complicated and costly as was the case of NASA's unsuccessful Mars Climate Orbiter project. American engineers from Lockheed Martin failed to use metric units in their calculations which resulted in the $330 million dollar orbiter burning up in the atmosphere.
A US switch to the metric system, would avoid these costly mistakes and lower the costs of international trade which could result in new business being brought to the US from overseas.