Ok, the exp thing makes sense. And maybe the rep does, or maybe not.
Now, is this trade reputation 100k threshold cumulative? Or it has to be 100k all at once? and then the next 100k, you get a 2nd point of rep? Linear or exponential increase?
Even in builds where trade isn't broken, by the time you're doing 100k trade volumes, it's probable that most players have already sort of picked sides and 1 point of rep is inconsequential.
But having it at a 100k threshold is probably good, since that means players during the early game hobo phase can trade freely with everyone and not be penalized, and from an in-game standpoint, hobo freighting is peanuts for the factions concerned so why should they care? I remember the threshold being lower previously, but this might be a good change.
But if you've got big fleets delivering tonnes of stuff somewhere that really makes an impact, and factions should reward/penalize it more. Though just 1 rep per 100k seems like not much.