The surcharge is to permit you to download the book via 3G should you buy a "real" Kindle in the future. Look at it this way: suppose you bought 100 books and didn't get the $2 per book added on. You then buy a 3G Kindle; would you be happy for Amazon to charge you $200 at that point?
Really, applying the data roaming charge at the point of sale is the only sensible way to do it.
The surcharge is gradually being removed as Amazon do deals with local telecoms operators around the world. We lost it here in the UK earlier this year.
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