Tolerance for bicycle tire width?

It was my understanding that there’s no difference between those: Bikes are completely measured in metric, the diameter is exactly 700 mm, but that’s sometimes converted to American units and rounded to the nearest inch.

No not correct. As I say there is an 8mm difference. 630mm vs 622mm

“The [27”] rim itself is slightly larger than modern 700c wheels, which has been learned the hard way by many of us after buying a new road tire and struggling to get it seated.”

You must be from the planet next door where bike wheel sizing makes some sort of sense. Believe me this ain’t that planet.