I thought one of the prime faunctions of the Imperium was to negate planets/groups pulling these tricks and to standardize things. As long as the ship/cargo stays inside the extrality zone of a starport the locals can't do squat.
True, but what the locals can do outside the X-line can affect what occurs within.
Carrying 20 tons of hard ⌧ to Planet Bible Thumper? 10 tons of crack from Arglebargle? Cool - as long as it doesn't void any Impie regs it's fine ...But sell it over the phone and have the new owner pick it up from the starport warehouse - it's his problem now and the PC's are in the clear.
Yes, but in speculative trading, IMTU, this could certainly have an effect on price. This provides the REAL fun in a trading campaign. It's also what makes Broker, Trader, and Admin so important.
Locals could picket the starport when striking, but if they so much as set foot over the X-line they had better get to work.
However, if it is the locals who are working to starport, their regulations may not have any bearing, but cultural norms may cause labor issues (see ⌧ ref , supra). "If you want to unload that filth here, heathen, you'll have to do it yourself, and by-the-way, all the loaders are broken. Sorry it's all in 4dton containers. You can pray for your wretched soul while you unload those 7 containers by hand."
Per Icosahedron's comment of "why wouldn't players know about this stuff," knowing and being competent to negotiate are two different things: I know about tires, I know they go flat, but I can neither tell you when one is going to do so nor how to fix it: if I'm without my spare or AAA, it's a long walk. If I had to put a plug in a flat, that was capable of being plugged, then I could probably do it, if I had the kit.
Thus, if someone with Admin, Trader, or Broker skill is working it, I'm with Icosahedron: it will largely be chrome. If I have a merchant character without such skills, he's going to spot the potential problems, but probably not be able to fix them without help, or will have at least a good challenge in doing so. A IISS, IN, or Marine character will have a lesser ability to spot the problem.
Army, Others, Barabarians, or Scientists, for example, will have the same chance at spotting these problems as I would planning preventtive and corrective maintenance on a jet engine. I know it needs to be done, know it's important, but would probably not even be competent to hire the best person to do it.
In sum, a wealth of adventure opportunities without being necessarily being a morass of intractable problems. That said, as I understand the OTU, one can always "Stay on the Interstate," and travel from one starport to another without trading or engaging in activity that would either cross the X-line or be affected by what is on the other side; great for those "just passing through," but devoid of the fertile stuff of adventure.