Via Starwars.com:

When Qui-Gon Jinn states that the negotiations with the cowardly representatives of the Trade Federation about the blockade of Naboo won’t take long, he can’t be more mistaken. While the situation eventually gets resolved, the blockade of Naboo turns out to be the first of many Sith machinations that would clear a path for the Clone Wars to flourish.

The opening titles of The Phantom Menace describe a greedy Trade Federation blockading the planet Naboo in order to protest against the taxation of trade routes in outlying systems. The first signs of this organization can be found in the preface of the novelization of A New Hope: “Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic.” One of these “organs of commerce” is the Trade Federation which indeed plays an essential part in Darth Sidious’ plan to get elected as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

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