George Lucas Defends The Phantom Menace's Trade Dispute Plot

I agree, I think it's a basically good idea, it's the first move we see in Palpatine's rise to power.

The only problem is that the cynical manipulative power moves going on don't fit in with the cheerful jokey kiddie-movie tone of the rest of the film, and you don't actually understand what's going on until you've seen the later prequel films. Lucas should have toned down the kiddie shit and made Palpatine's manouvers a larger part of the plot.