The whole thing is somewhat ridiculous, so whether it is implicit or it needs more explanation makes little difference.
We're introduced to a Trade Federation that for some reason has a huge army, apparently bigger than anything the Republic has, at least until they get the clones. They also have a senator for whatever reason. That makes no sense.
They blockade a planet to stop trade, even though their business is trade and they're going to lose money. But ok, they're making a point, give us a tax cut or there's no trade, I could see that.
The Republic then sends Jedi to negotiate, because not only are they the guardians of peace and justice, it seems they're also tax collectors. What makes them experts on trade? Do they teach Intergalactic Trade at the Jedi temple? I don't remember Yoda teaching that to Luke. Maybe that's why he wanted Luke not to leave Dagobah: "Luke you must complete the training, you haven't even taken Intergalactic Trade 101 yet!
Anyway, Qui-Gon says the Federation are cowards and the negotiations would be short. So what was Qui-Gon's plan? "Pay your taxes or I'll cut you in half with my lightsaber".
The whole situation is strange, the basics are iffy and it's a very boring way to start the saga.
The comparison with the "Long nose guy" however is not very good. He's merely a spy or whatever that has 2 seconds of screen time. We're told that Mos Eisley is filled with scum and villany, so we can expect characters like him. The problem with the Trade Federation is that they are a mayor part of the film and they're presented as a very well organized group (as I mentioned, they even have a senator) so the risk of invading a planet is huge. It's hard to imagine what could Sidious have promised to them that was worth taking such a risk. Perhaps Sidious had a sex tape of Nute Gunray and he was going to make it public.
But again the whole Trade Federation plot is lame, even if it had been explained it would still suck