"The current agreement, the Trans-Pacific [Partnership], which has some serious flaws, will not be acted upon this year," McConnell said at the Kentucky State Farm Bureau breakfast Thursday.

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But McConnell said that while the trade agreement won't get approved in its current form, it could pass next year with some changes.

"It will still be around. It can be massaged, changed, worked on during the next administration," he said.

McConnell helped spearhead the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) through the Senate last year. The law allows any future trade deal to be fast-tracked through Congress without changes. The Kentucky Republican joked Thursday that passing the TPA was a "rather unusual experience."