“Made in China” is a familiar label on Donald Trump’s clothing lines, including his branded shirts, ties and cuffs, while other garments have come from factories in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Mexico.

The clothing venture is one example of how the Republican has benefited from cheap labour and manufacturing abroad, practices which he has denounced as recently as this week when he promised to “put America first”.

Although he told ABC News in 2011 that China’s manipulation of its currency made it impossible to compete, he told Americans on Tuesday that he would impose tariffs on Chinese goods, bring back jobs to the US and punish any US company that moves its workforce or factory abroad.

According to an investigation by The New York Times, Mr Trump paired up with Turkish maker of luxury furniture Dorya in 2013 for his Trump Home brand.

The “unbelievable” crystal products in the range were made in Slovenia, he told the newspaper in 2010.

The presidential candidate has also reportedly used undocumented immigrants to construct three of his most iconic buildings, including the Trump Tower in New York – Mr Trump settled a lawsuit over the matter as he claimed he did not know his contractor were employing them – as well as for the Trump International Hotel at the site of the former Post Office in Washington DC.

He also reportedly employed foreign guest workers from Romania and other countries to work at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The New York Times reported that Mr Trump said he found it a challenge to source qualified people in the local area during the high season.

Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didn’t know the air conditioner didn’t work and sweated like dogs, and they didn’t know the room was too big because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY

Despite talk at his rallies of opposing outsourcing, the property tycoon has not always been against the practice.

“If a company’s only means of survival is by farming jobs outside its walls, then sometimes it’s a necessary step,” Mr Trump wrote on his Trump University blog in 2005. “The other option might be to close its doors for good.”

He also told chat show host David Letterman in 2012 that he was proud to employ people in Bangladesh to manufacture Trump-branded dress shirts.