New Delhi, June 20 -- "We are meeting during exciting times," jokes Sarita Handa as we sit down for a conversation in a conference room at her sprawling 40,000 sq. ft factory in Gurugram. It is a sunny March afternoon, and the biggest news of the moment is whether India and the US will seal a trade deal following the American government's decision to raise tariffs on select imports. For Handa, whose luxury lifestyle business was built on exports long before it became a household name in India, the outcome could have a defining impact on her business.

Even three months later, the uncertainty facing global trade is far from over. Handa's business remains exposed to shifting geopolitical currents, from tariff negotiations in the US-her larg...