by fahbs2000
I would actually argue against Trade II first turn if you have bad trade agreements. No one is going to lock themselves into a long term agreement with you if they get a bum deal out of it; they'll just wait for a better deal next turn. If you have bad agreements, then picking Trade II has a use in that you can extort trade goods out of other players via threat of canceling their agreements. This is something you cannot do the first turn since no one has goods yet.Honestly Trade II is one of the last cards I'd ever pick for first turn, maybe only behind Bureaucracy or maybe Warfare II (only if you absolutely have to reach a certain system the first turn).
Production is deceptively strong for a first turn pick. On top of the free resources, you essentially get a free CC (don't have to use one activating your home system) AND an additional turn of movement out of the ships you build that turn. That's huge for early expansion and conquest.