MONTREAL, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Uniforet Inc. (Toronto:UNFa.TO - news) said on Monday it will suspend production at its Port-Cartier, Quebec, sawmill for 10 days in early October because of a poor market for lumber in the wake of a 19 percent duty imposed by Washington on imports of lumber from Canada. The cash-strapped pulp and lumber producer had already halted pulp production last February because of the weak conditions in the pulp market. About 120 workers were laid off for an ``indefinite period of time.'' Now the lumber side will be hit. The temporary closure, from Oct. 1 to Oct. 12, will affect 190 employees and will reduce Uniforet's annual lumber output by 7.2 million board feet, or 4 percent, the company said. Uniforet recently received approval from creditors to restructure its debt and other obligations. It sought court protection from creditors in April after being squeezed by eroding pulp and lumber prices and failing to meet interest payments on long-term debt. The United States last month imposed a 19.3 percent countervailing duty on the Canadian softwood lumber exports, mainly used in homebuilding. Washington says Canadian exports unfairly compete with U.S. products because Canadian producers pay low stumpage fees to harvest timber on public lands, a situation which it says amounts to an indirect subsidy from Ottawa. Canada denies the claim and has opposed the duty, which could be followed by a further anti-dumping duty on Canadian exports. Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew was in Washington on Monday to meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to discuss the trade dispute.