Tonight, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman debated Lou Dobbs on the sale of U.S. port terminals to Dubai Ports World. I thought Portman countered Dobbs’s patented brand of populist demagoguery rather effectively.

Dobbs invited Portman onto the show to commend him for putting pressure on China to bring its trade policies into compliance with its WTO obligations. But Portman was quick to point out that he doesn’t buy the economic protectionism Dobbs peddles to his viewers every night. Portman’s goal is to get China to stop breaking trade rules, not to artificially erase any natural competitive advantages China enjoys over the United States. As Portman pointed out, trade deficits are not inherently bad — in fact, they are associated with robust economic growth.

In any case, it was nice to see someone with a strong command of the facts and understanding of global commerce challenge Dobbs. Now if we could only get Dan Drezner on the show. For more on Dobbs and his economic near-sightedness, check out the Dobbswatch blog.

Video here.