The trade system was disproportionately profiting Europe and not the other continents.
Step-by-step explanation:
The trade system at that time was capitalistic and it had grown into using colonialism as its potent tool against the native populations of many of their colonies which were all across the contentions.
This meant that they were the ones profiting most from this trade and not the people in the other nations.
This was the system, broadly, that remained in place until much later and the people in the regions had to suffer for it.