Trade III SC

I've played 3 TI games by now in the same group, where we usually get 6 players for a game. We run Leadership, Diplomacy II, Assembly, Production, Trade III, Warfare II, Technology II, Bureaucracy. Of the bunch, Trade seems the weaker pick by far.. You get a random mercenary and the opportunity to deny other players their trade, which seems mainly good for making enemies to me. Trade III is by far the card that is left out the most in our SC picking rounds. It needs two bonus counters to be an attractive pick in my opinion. Are anyone else playing with it? What do you think?

I've given the whole concept of trade agreements some thought, too. Trade agreements punish aggression between players, one of my favourite kinds of interaction. The new thing in Trade III is that you are less likely to be punished for breaking a TA, as you can always reforge it next time Trade goes and cash in immediately, but the bottom line is still that we have a mechanic designed to punish, not reward, player interaction.. For these reasons, my group has given up the Trade II card as too suppressive to be fun. However, Trade II seems to be about the right place when it comes to rewards for picking it. Any thoughts?